Chris White has featured on Channel 4 Dispatches ‘Train Journeys from Hell’ in two film clips in which he complained about the poor service, overcrowding and excessive cost of First Capital Connect.

Chris commented: ‘They saw my tweets complaining about the service and made contact via Facebook. They asked me to provide a couple of clips which were uploaded onto YouTube for them. I am pleased they used them and hope that there may now be government action to sort out this dreadful company.

‘The programme was first aired last night and is repeated at 2 am on Thursday morning. After that it is available on the Dispatches website: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/.’

Channel Four is making a programme about railways and the horrible journeys that commuters regularly suffer. You can help the producers by going to this link:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/train-journeys-from-hell

Residents in St Albans, Watford, Southend and Norfolk are all set to benefit from a second round of ‘Kickstart’ grants.

Kickstart is targeted at schemes which have the potential to become successful but which initially might be more marginal in commercial terms and require so financial help to start them off.

Projects which aim to increase bus patronage – leading to a reduction in congestion and benefits to the environment – as well as to improve accessibility and social inclusion were selected for Kickstart funding.

This round of grants also focused on schemes which make use of the new bus powers in the Local Transport Act 2008. Good practice on the use of these new powers will then be shared with other local authorities and operators.

The funding announced for the East of England is:
£935,000 for Hertfordshire County Council for the St Albans Quality Network Partnership project.
£303,556 for Hertfordshire County Council for Watford Route 10
£2,018,480 for Norfolk County Council for the A11 Attleborough to Norwich corridor project
£243,954 for Southend on Sea for Southend on Sea Route 19.

NOTES
Kickstart provides pump-priming funding to new or enhanced bus services. It is targeted at schemes which have the potential to become successful but which be initially marginal in commercial terms and require some financial help to start them off, or which are currently marginal schemes that with some extra support could be made more successful.

Kickstart was first introduced by the DfT on a pilot basis as part of the Urban and Rural Bus Challenge competitions in 2003. In light of initial results from that a competition for the award of further Kickstart funding was held in 2005. A total of £20million was awarded to 43 projects as part of that competition.

The following is copied from Sandy Walkington’s blog

“Should FCC lose its franchise?” – Public Meeting 16th March
March 9th, 2010 · Sandy’s blog

I am still being inundated daily with e-mails and telephone calls about continued erratic performance from First Capital Connect. And their mean and overly complex compensation offer is leaving people frustrated and angry.

The mechanism exists for rail franchises to be handed back if franchisees fail to deliver the promised service. FCC seems to have had a charmed life in hanging on to its lucrative monopoly, it is time that passengers had their say.

So we are calling a public meeting for next Tuesday 16 March to discuss whether FCC should now lose their franchise. The main speaker will be my friend Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman in the House of Commons. The meeting will take place at Marlborough Road Methodist Church in the centre of the city (see directions here) and starts at 7.00 pm with doors opening at 6.30 pm – so do put the date in your diary!

When I successfully proposed my motion on rail franchises at last autumn’s Liberal Democrat conference, Norman summed up the debate. The Daily Mail has described him as having ‘consistently been a thorn in the Government’s side’. In 2001 he was named “Inquisitor of the Year” in the Zurich/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and, in February 2002, he won the Channel 4 Opposition MP of the Year Award.

It’s going to be a lively meeting, I hope to see you there.

This is your chance to have your say direct to the managers. In the past they have BANNED the press from attending (so much for real accountability) and have brought the British Transport Police along for protection – an abuse of police powers, frankly.

Don’t be intimidated by these tactics!

Make sure they hear loud and clear the messages we and others are delivering loud and clear to the Government – that we don’t want First Group on this railway and that we want a proper compensation package.

LOCAL LIB DEMS PRESS FCC TOP MANAGEMENT ON COMPENSATION
– FCC agree to additional Meet The Managers meeting at Harpenden

Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates Sandy Walkington for St Albans and Nigel Quinton for Hitchin & Harpenden joined senior Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster yesterday for a private meeting with FCC top management, Mary Grant and Neal Lawson.

Sandy Walkington used the meeting to communicate the complete dissatisfaction of local travellers with the proposed compensation scheme, and particularly the inadequacy and complexity of the so-called Delay Repay. Nigel Quinton successfully requested that FCC hold a Meet the Managers session at Harpenden just as they are doing this Friday in St Albans.

Ms Grant told Sandy that they had already processed 73,000 delay repay schemes from across the Thameslink route, with many more coming in. She conceded that they would be flexible as possible, measuring the 30 minute delay against the original timetable and not the emergency one, waiving the normal time limits for claims, and accepting any evidence of payment – for example credit card bills – where the original tickets have been lost.

“I don’t like Delay Repay, it is wholly inadequate for short commuter journeys and it does not recognise the appalling overcrowding,” Sandy Walkington said. “But I hope that passengers will now inundate FCC with claims and at least get some additional compensation, albeit through a tediously bureaucratic process.”

Sandy also used the meeting to hammer home problems with inaudible announcements at West Hampstead, rude and offensive staff at St Pancras, and flakey text alerts. Ms Grant conceded that the whole passenger communications system was not fit for purpose in terms of dealing with major events and was being radically upgraded and overhauled.

Sandy concluded his contribution by telling her and Mr Lawson that they had to understand how deep they were “in the mire.” To have any chance of regaining passenger confidence, they will have to be perfect in every aspect – clean toilets, clean stations and rolling stock, excellent timekeeping, good real time communication, full length trains, staff there when you want them.

“First Group has the strapline ‘Transforming Travel’. Well they certainly did, but perhaps not as the advertising copywriters intended,” Sandy concluded. “It will be a long haul back, I’m still not sure FCC gets it, in which case steps should be taken to remove the franchise.”

ENDS

For more information please call Sandy Walkington on 07802 177317

Note to Editors:
Mary Grant, chair of FCC, and Neal Lawson, the new managing director, were there for the rail company. On the LibDem side, as well as Sandy and Nigel, there were Lib Dem shadow transport secretary Norman Baker MP, Paul Burstow MP and Tom Brake MP, both from constituencies served by Thameslink, and Lord Bill Bradshaw, former Director of Strategy for British Rail and now LibDem transport spokesman in the House of Lords.