Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke, recently had a meeting at Basingstoke Station with Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of the South West Trains/Network Rail Wessex Alliance. The Wessex Alliance, which was formed in April 2012, means that a single management team is responsible for both trains and track in the South West Trains area, including Waterloo Station.
Maria asked what action would be taken to address overcrowding on peak-time commuter trains between Basingstoke and London Waterloo, and how the government funding announced by the Transport Secretary on 16 July would benefit Basingstoke rail users.
She heard from Tim Shoveller that extra capacity for peak-time trains through Basingstoke would come on stream over the next 18 months, to ensure that all trains running during the three-hour morning and evening peak periods were of the maximum 12 carriage length. She was also told that there were plans to bring the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo back into use, which would help to ease congestion, with the first platform coming into operation later this year.
Tim Shoveller also told her about other plans, including the lengthening of platforms at Waterloo that in time would allow for the operation of trains of up to 16 carriages in length.
Maria said: “I was very interested to hear about the new Wessex Alliance, whose aim is to deliver a more effective and efficient railway service for passengers in our area. This is a positive development, as the tendency we have seen in the past has been for train operators to blame the network providers for rail problems, and vice versa.”
Maria added: “It is really important to address the problem of over-crowding on our trains as the number of rail users on the South West network has doubled over the last 15 years - and is continuing to rise by 3% every year.”