Second piece in Maidenhead Advertiser 29th Oct.
Meeting held with Therese May Network Rail and GWR▸ .
Covered Delays and Cencellations, Mainline electrification, electrifcation of branches, fast trains from Maidenehad and Twyford.
I have reports of this meeting from other sources, Appears Henley and Windsor will be elctrified fairly quickly but Marlow not until shorter rolling stock is sorted out. However, it appears doubling the junction at Bourne End will be carried out to enable 30 minute service.
Here is the report itself
from the Maidenhead Advertiser:
15:00 Tuesday 27 October 2015 Written by Simon Meechan
Theresa May has 'productive meeting' with Network Rail chairman
The Home Secretary met Network Rail^s new chairman to discuss issues around railway services.
Theresa May, who is also MP▸ for Maidenhead and Twyford, met Sir Peter Hendy at the House of Commons on Wednesday, October 21.
A spokesman for Mrs May said she pressed for reduced delays on the Great Western Line, and asked for updates on the line^s electrification works.
Mrs May also stressed the need for electrification on the Twyford and Henley branch lines, and highlighted their importance to her constituents.
Mrs May said: ^This was a productive meeting in which I raised a number of issues of vital importance to the future of our train services. I emphasised the necessity of fast services to London being protected and the need for proper thought to be given to the branch lines.^
^I also highlighted commuters^ frustrations about delays and cancellations on the line and the need for ongoing action to respond quickly to signal failures and other problems when they occur. Network Rail will be in no doubt about the strength of feeling among local residents on these points.^
As you can see, it adds almost nothing to the
OP▸ . But look at this, and imagine what is going on the the minds of Sir Peter Hendy or some of his staff: "I emphasised the necessity of fast services to London being protected".
Presumably, the train of thought is something like:
"By about 2025 we are expecting to scrap all the Maidenhead and Twyford semi-fasts to maximise capacity. That would please most people, but it there would be losers and they are concentrated in her constituency and in a few others. Some of them (like John Redwood) have not much clout and anyway are likely to be gone by then. But could she still be a minster? Or even be prime minister? Do we need to do serious plans (e.g. spending lots of money on grade separation or the like) for that possibility?"