MK Rail Users

Local MP, Mark Lancaster has asked questions in parliament about problems with Milton Keynes commuter rail services highlighting the worrying fact that fares for commuters might have to rise dramatically due to the projected Demand Management Regulation of fares.

On March 24th, Mark Lancaster MP, North-East Milton Keynes secured a 30 minute debate in Parliament to highlight the plight of rail passengers from Milton Keynes and to expose the pending introduction of Demand Management Regulation (DMR).

Mr. Lancaster emphasised the fact that the government have been focusing on long distance travel to the detriment of MK commuters and noted that the prospect of the closure of the Travel Centre would further compound the misery. The ‘upgrade’ of Milton Keynes station had turned out to be purely for the benefit of passing through travellers. He asked the Minister how he would feel seeing a Virgin train with empty seats stop at a crowded station to drop off passengers but refuse to pick up.

He questioned whether the Minister had exercised enough ‘due diligence’ when awarding the franchise to London Midland and made the point that constituents are being forced to relocate or take to the roads because of the poor performance of the service, noting unreliability, a lack of staff helpfulness and the fact that punctuality was considerably below government targets (62.1% compared to 76.5% nationally and a target of 86.4%). Although it was remarked that some steps were being taken by London Midland to improve the situation the conclusion he made was that passengers were suffering appalling value for money with fares rising at RPI plus 1% every year, leading him to ask how long it would take the Minister to act to improve the situation.

Mr Lancaster also queried the lack of non-stop trains at peak times compared with other cities of a similar size and asked for the Minister’s assurance that no regulated fare rise would exceed RPI plus 1%.

Considering the fare structure, Mr Lancaster probed the Minister about the impending introduction of DMR which had remained outside the public domain. Under this scheme passengers travelling at the height of the peak could see fares rises by RPI plus X (currently 1%) plus another 5%. This would have a serious impact on commuters who do not have job flexibility and would allow for the scrapping of the unlimited journey 7 day, monthly or longer season tickets. He noted that it was alarming that London Midland did not intend to consult passengers before the introduction of the ‘smartcard’ ticketing necessary for this scheme and that he understood they had plans to introduce it as early as January 2010. He pointed out that the Minister, Lord Adonis, had stated in parliament on February 25th that it was not ‘acceptable for individual commuters to face significantly above average fare increases in a time of economic stringency.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Clark) replied to these questions agreeing that London Midland’s performance was unacceptable but reiterating that substantial investment had been put into the lines and stating that the Department was very active in pushing for improvements and that various steps had been taken to improve local services such as an increase of speed, new high performance electric trains, more carriages and longer platforms. He admitted that it was clear that ‘major’ population centres such as Manchester and Liverpool had benefited from a better service.

His reply concerning the increase in fares caused by DMR was a little non-committal and he stated that it could not be introduced without going through ‘the necessary processes’. He said that he ‘guaranteed’ that steps would be taken to protect the price structure of fares although there were still issues that needed to be addressed.

Click here for full debate transcript.

MK Rail Services – Mark Lancaster, MP, Takes Up the Fight