Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
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Local MP meets with Southern to push for local rail improvements
Local Lib Dem MP, Norman Baker, has met with the Managing Director of rail company Southern, Chris Burchell, to push for improvements to the local railway service and review progress on issues raised at their last meeting.
Since the last meeting in June the following progress has been made:
- Southern have agreed to Mr Baker’s request to ensure that the scrolling information screens inside carriages give accurate information. This is of particular importance on trains which divide at Haywards Heath to serve two destinations .
- Further to Mr Baker’s calls for reduced journey times and the publication of the Brighton Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy, journey times between Polegate, Lewes and London are set to reduce by up to 7 minutes.
At the meeting, Norman also pressed for action to:
- Increase from 2 to 3 the number of coaches on the heavily used trains between Brighton and Ashford.
- Further cut train times between Lewes and London by up to 15 minutes, particularly on those services serving fewer intermediate stations.
- Timetable an additional evening service between London Bridge and the coast. Due to limited capacity at London Bridge Mr Baker suggested the possibility of dividing one of the 12 car Brighton trains at Haywards Heath.
Speaking after the meeting, Norman Baker says:
"I am very pleased that we seem to be making real progress on a number of issues, particularly in cutting journey times to London. I have been raising the question of the slack in the timetable for some time now and Transport Minister, Tom Watson, last week confirmed cuts of up to 7 minutes in journey times between Lewes and London. That said, there is still room for even more improvement with regards journey times on the services that serve fewer intermediate stations on the route and I have asked Southern to review the possibility of providing faster services in these cases. I believe it should be possible to cut 15 minutes off some journey times between Polegate and London.
"There is no doubt that local rail services have improved considerably recently, partly because of the suggestions made by my constituents which I have happily passed on to the local rail company. This is why I am always happy to use these regular meetings to take forward any constructive ideas that local people bring to me."