Mayor Dave Writes: Bedford's Rail Users Deserve Better

In his column for the September issue of the Bedford Bulletin, Mayor Dave Hodgson has written about the bad deal which Bedford's rail users get on the Thameslink line. He calls on the government, which has 'considerable powers at its disposal', to start doing its bit on behalf of beleaguered commuters.

Here's the full text of the column:

I joined forces recently with leaders of other councils along the route of the Thameslink and Great Northern lines to demand a better service for local rail users. As a group of councils representing well over a million people, we called on the Government to work in the interests of beleaguered users of services on these routes. That means ensuring they are provided with levels of service they were promised and which they have a right to expect.

Rail users in Bedford pay a lot of money for their train travel. Indeed, a comparison of the cost of Bedford commuters' travel with journeys of similar length elsewhere shows it to be very high indeed. Worse, yet another rise has been announced by the government, with a 1.9% increase in regulated fares to be imposed in January.

In return for these fares, the very least rail travelers should be able to expect is a timetable they can rely on, adequate capacity on the trains and cancellations kept to a minimum. Instead, sadly, Bedford commuters are being failed on each of these counts.

National media coverage has focused on problems with Southern Rail services. Meanwhile, however, Thameslink travelers have also been enduring appalling overcrowding, excessive delays and late cancellations, and it is just not good enough.

I recently met personally with Govia Thameslink representatives and made this clear to them. I received assurances over issues included increased capacity, more drivers to reduce the risk of cancellations and other issues. I will keep a close eye on these issues and will hold them to their pledges.

It is now time for the government, which contracts Govia Thameslink to operate the route, receives the fares income and has considerable powers at its disposal, to start supporting long suffering Bedford rail users and ensuring better services are provided.