Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has secured a promise from GTR Govia Thameslink that rush hour Great Northern rail services from Oakleigh Park will be reinstated.
Angry commuters contacted Theresa following the announcement that two out of six morning train services between 8am and 9am would be withdrawn on 20th May, at short notice and without consultation.
She immediately spoke to GTR, which runs rail services through Oakleigh Park, to demand that these cuts be reversed. The company has now promised that the services will be put back into the timetable for Oakleigh Park in December, after new Class 717 trains are introduced.
“GTR has assured me the two services will be come back by early December. On behalf of commuters, I intend to hold the company to the promise it has made to me. As an added insurance, I have spoken up in Parliament to ask the rail minister to do the same,” said Theresa.
“I know just how angry commuters in my constituency are about this change because trains are already crowded when operating at current service levels.”
“Even worse, news of these service reductions was only made public at the last minute – sneaked out on the GTR website without passengers or residents having any proper chance to express their views on the change.”
“The planned service cut was not mentioned in the extensive timetable consultation that GTR carried out last year when it really should have been. I am worried about what would have happened if we there hadn’t been such a row over the unacceptable disappearance of these trains.”
Click here to visit Theresa’s Facebook page and watch a video clip of her question on this issue in Parliament on Thursday.