Oliver Heald MP had a very full meeting with Govia officials today 18th July and had the chance to put forward a range of concerns about the number of fast trains from Royston and Letchworth under the proposed new timetable and to make comparisons with existing services. He pointed out that Royston and Letchworth should have services where it was possible to get a seat.
Govia promised to consider all the points and to answer some more fully now.
They pointed out that the number of trains is not the only issue, as the mix of trains will change and that next year, there will be about half with 12 cars in the new timetable, as opposed to mainly 8 cars now. There will apparently be a lot more seats as a result. They were also explaining that the new service opened up many new travel options into the centre of London and points south, such as Gatwick. They are doing a new timetable covering a vast area of the south east.
Commenting Oliver said: “I have made strong representations to Govia and they say they will consider them as part of the consultation, but I do think we need all passengers to respond to the consultation. It is clearly important for everyone using the service.”