... and that's happened to Lewes passengers 23 weekends this year already
Rail passengers forced onto rail replacement buses should have a third of their ticket price refunded by Network Rail, Lewes MP Norman Baker has told the Commons. He argued that Network Rail had failed to keep its promise to reduce the use of replacement buses and needed a financial penalty to push them into progress.
Latest figures indicate that in Lewes and the surrounding area, rail replacement buses have been in operation on a whopping 23 weekends so far in 2009. This is despite the fact that Network Rail promised a year ago to reduce the number of track possessions that required bus replacement services to be used.
Norman Baker, also the Lib Dem Shadow Transport Secretary, told the Commons:
"Is it not symptomatic of the culture and mindset that persists in the railway industry these days that Boxing Day, public holidays and Sundays are somehow not regarded as days on which people travel, as they were 50 years ago? When are we going to get the seven-day railway that Network Rail promised us?
"Is it not time that, instead of thousands of people being shoved on to bus replacement services, we had guaranteed rail services on Sunday? To give Network Rail an incentive and passengers a chance, should not Network Rail give a third off the ticket price to those who are forced on to buses?"
Government Minister Chris Mole replied:
"This Government are the first Government to assert the notion of the seven-day railway, and in doing so, we have had constructive dialogue with Network Rail about the scheduling of maintenance works. Of course, one of the challenges we face now is that we are investing more in our railways than ever before to ensure that they are properly maintained. To undertake those works, the railway must be possessed by Network Rail, which will judge the best time to do the work, which is inevitably a Sunday."
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