WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Harriett Baldwin has written to a train company calling for an urgent meeting after continued service cancellations.
West Midland Trains have cancelled a succession of trains in the last fortnight, leaving frustrated customers on platforms waiting for replacement buses.
Two years ago, the MP held crisis talks with the company and was promised that the company would recruit and train more drivers to prevent the cancellations and delays.
She has previously raised her concerns about the rail franchise with the Prime Minister, and has backed the campaign by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street to put the franchise West Midlands Trains on notice for its poor performance.
Mrs Baldwin said:
“Two years ago, I had a disappointing conversation with one of the directors of West Midlands Trains who claimed that the cancellations were attributed to driver shortages, but that it was recruiting more train drivers.
“I was told that it takes 18 months to train a driver, so I am wondering why there is not now a full supply of drivers and why we are seeing consistently poor performance on trains between Birmingham and Malvern.
“The company held onto its franchise after pledging to fix the performance issues so my question to them now is, what is their latest excuse?
“I hope to hear from the senior leadership about why it is continuing to under-perform and what it is doing to fix it, and, when Parliament returns in January, I plan to ask questions of the relevant Ministers.
“Some of my constituents have already called for the company to be relieved of its duties and I am starting to feel that their performance requires much closer scrutiny.”
