Following a survey of his constituents, Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark has submitted his response to the Department for Transport's consultation on the future of the Southeastern franchise. Greg encouraged constituents to send him their priorities for the network, and also met with his Rail Action Group of local commuters as part of developing his response.
Greg said: "I am most grateful to everyone who got in touch with their views, which have informed my response to the consultation. The last few years of service have not been good enough; on too many days the network has been disrupted, while trains have become more crowded, prices have gone up, and communication with passengers continues to be an issue – particularly when things go wrong.
These issues and more featured in the feedback I received, and my response emphasises the need to deliver a service which is reliable, which provides better value for money and which maintains current level of service to and from all stations – adding extra services wherever possible. Other issues in my response include calling for more flexibility in ticketing options, improved capacity through longer trains, and that the network is updated with on-board WiFi. I will continue to press the Department for Transport to take our comments to heart, and that the next operator will be expected to deliver an improved level of service across the board."
Pictured: Greg handing his response to Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport. For a copy of Greg's full response, please email greg.clark.mp@parliament.uk