Local Lib Dems press FCC top management on compensation

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 strap-line '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."

PS...

Mary Grant, chair of FCC, and Neal Lawson, the new managing director, represented 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.