Timetable at Seer Green and Jordans station to be reviewed

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bucks Free Press:

A review of services at a south Bucks railway station is being planned after protests from passengers.

Chiltern Railways, the franchise responsible for operating services through Seer Green and Jordans, recently cut back the number of trains stopping at the station.

The company said its research told them the number of passengers boarding was always in single figures and on frequent occasions nobody got on at all.

However after rail users presented Chiltern Railways with a petition protesting about the cutbacks, and MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Cheryl Gillan met with the company's managing director Rob Brighouse, a review of services has been agreed.

Mrs Gillan said: "I was pleased that Mr Brighouse underlined that there are no plans, now or in the future, to close Seer Green and Jordans station. This is an issue which affects many of my constituents and I am appreciative that Chiltern Railways are giving the issue such careful thought.^

She added she would continue to work with Chiltern Railways "to secure the best possible outcome" for rail users.

Graham Cross, Business Development Director at Chiltern Railways, said:  ^Before taking the decision to change the off-peak service at Seer Green and Jordans in May we carefully checked passenger numbers over a four month period on the affected trains and found that they were either in single figures or no passengers boarded at all.

"However, we have agreed that we will work with a specialist passenger counting consultancy who will conduct another passenger count of off peak trains this summer."

The results of the survey will be available in September, he added.

[ChrisB]

And those counts will be the same as Chiltern's....be interesting to see if this turns into a battle over public transport supply of trains requirement teven when no one's using it. Trouble is, the PSR^▸ (Permanent Speed Restriction) is 1 train/hour off-peak.

[IndustryInsider]

A little ironic that Cheryl Gillan is lobbying for more stops when she's against HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)), which might free up the capacity for more trains to stop on the Chiltern Line's suburban stations as less fast trains might be needed!

[Btline]

Cheryl will be desperate for votes! She's pretty much lost her seat already because there was a backlash when it was revealed she allegedly sold her token constituency house near HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) shortly before the go ahead (she actually lives in Epsom, Surrey).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/9015543/Cabinet-minister-Cheryl-Gillan-sells-home-near-route-of-HS2.html

It is possible that Mrs Gillan would have obtained a significantly lower price for her Amersham home after Justine Greening, the transport secretary, gave the go-ahead for HS2 last Tuesday.

It depends what people's memories are like and how HS2 progresses towards the election. Any triumphs help...