Amanda Milling, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, has raised the on-going issues faced by commuters using the Chase Line at Prime Minister’s Questions, describing the problems this Autumn as ‘worse than ever’.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 7th December, the Cannock Chase MP spoke of her increasing frustration at delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains which are spelling “misery” for local constituents. London Midland services on the Chase Line, connecting Rugeley, Hednesford and Cannock with Birmingham New Street, are attracting a huge volume of public complaints about overcrowding, insufficient carriage numbers, delayed and cancelled trains. These issues are all being championed by the Cannock Chase MP who has been pressuring London Midland to address the situation.
Amanda Milling MP outlined at Prime Minister’s Questions the chaos and utter misery faced by Chase Line commuters in the Autumn months, which have been even worse this year, and asked what the government is doing to penalise poor performing train operators to ensure passengers get the service they deserve.
Amanda said: “The issues faced by commuters on the line were not unexpected. We had the same problems last Autumn when there was a seasonal uplift of staff working at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Rugeley. What is hugely frustrating is that I called on London Midland and Amazon to address these issues last year and here we are again, one year later facing exactly the same problems, in fact the experiences of passengers has been significantly worse this Autumn. I met with both London Midland and Amazon earlier this week to put pressure on them to address the problems we are facing now, as well as to make sure plans are in place to ensure we do not find ourselves in this situation again next year.”
Delayed, cancelled and part cancelled trains; trains with too few carriages; a seasonal increase in passenger numbers are all causing severe overcrowding; concerns over safety; difficulty getting on and off trains; subsequent delays; passengers being left stranded at stations and ultimately commuters being late for work and school.
Amanda added: “It is simply not good enough and not fair on passengers that find themselves crammed into carriages, abandoned at stations and finding themselves late for work and school. There is a lot of talk about the problems on Southern Rail but the problems passengers face are not exclusive to the South and I wanted to ensure the frustrations of passengers of the Chase Line are being heard. It is important that the train operators don’t get away with this level of service and are held to account.”
The Cannock Chase MP has been leading a high profile campaign to get the problems on the Chase Line addressed which has seen her join passengers on peak time services both at the stations and on the trains; meet with London Midland on several occasions and set up a petition calling on London Midland to put more carriages on peak time services. Next week she will be meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP.
You can watch Amanda's question here - https://goo.gl/ybcyfV