Tessa Jowell MP

25/01/2010 (updated 27/01/10)

Tessa Jowell and her Streatham colleague Chuka Umunna are asking long suffering First Capital Connect passengers for their verdict on the company this week.

They will be asking commuters at local stations to let them know whether the FCC service has returned to an acceptable level after weeks and months of delays, cancellations and overcrowding caused by running short trains. If you use the service but have not received a survey form please click on the image to the right, print off the survey and return it to Tessa and Chuka.

Tessa said: "The Transport Secretary has made it clear that he will take action if the service does not return to normal in the next few days. We will be taking the views of those who really matter - the long suffering passengers - and passing these straight to Andrew Adonis.

STOP PRESS! MEET THE MANAGERS DATE CONFIRMED
From Neal Lawson (MD FCC):
"As per your suggestion, we will be holding a 'Meet the Manager' event for customers at Tulse Hill station during the morning peak on 2nd February. Myself and several other directors, along with managers who work on the Wimbledon Loop will be in attendance to talk to customers about the recent service and what we are doing to ensure the service improves going forward."

The following press release was issued by Tessa Jowell and Chuka Umunna last week:

News from Tessa Jowell MP & Chuka Umunna
Issue date: 22 January 2010

For immediate release

Jowell and Umunna secure undertakings from FCC for local residents

Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich & West Norwood, and Chuka Umunna, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Streatham have secured commitments from First Capital Connect (FCC) on steps to improve services after meeting with company bosses.

Passengers of Thameslink, operated by FCC, have experienced severe disruption since November including many delays and cancellations, following an industrial dispute over staff pay and technical problems relating to the recent snowfall.

Other passenger complaints have included poor and/or non-existent communication at stations and shortened and overcrowded trains.

This week, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told FCC that the disruption experienced by passengers is unacceptable, and warned the operator that it could lose its franchise if the situation continues. Mr Umunna and Ms Jowell have been in regular contact with the Transport Secretary on the issue.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna met with Neal Lawson, Managing Director of First Capital Connect and Mary Grant, Managing Director of First Group's rail division, (pictured - also with Jane Pickard of the Norwood Rail Users' Group) to go through in detail all the complaints they have received about the service and demand changes to ensure an improved service.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna secured the following commitments at their meeting with FCC bosses:

·         FCC promised that management will be available at Tulse Hill station to address passengers' concerns directly one day next week. This is on top of a session they are already running at St Pancras on Thursday 28 January between 4pm and 7pm. Further details will be published on Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna's websites shortly.

·         FCC will take steps to improve communication with passengers, both electronically and through assistance offered by station staff.

·         FCC will look into setting up a daily email service to inform commuters of any problems or delays before they leave home for work.

·         In the meeting, FCC acknowledged that its business model had failed to provide acceptable levels of reliability, and told Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna that they are currently in the process of overhauling their business model so they are less reliant on staff working overtime, and are currently recruiting and training more drivers.

·         New rolling stock is coming on stream, which will not suffer from the same problems as older units during cold weather and will allow for greater punctuality, FCC said.

·         There will be better and more detailed information made available to commuters regarding compensation for the disruption to date.

Ms Jowell and Mr Umunna will keep in daily contact with Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to ensure that FCC keeps to all its promises. If the operator fails to do so, they will press government to take appropriate action.

Tessa Jowell MP said:

"Thousands of people that I represent rely on FCC to get to work regularly and on time. They have been subjected to completely unacceptable unreliability through cancellations, delays and shorter trains – a collapsing service.

"Having met management today we have sought clear assurances that improvements will have an immediate impact for constituents. We will judge this according to performance, reliability, communication and modern trains."

Chuka Umunna said:

"Passengers deserve to be properly informed of what is happening with their service, which is why Tessa and I asked for management to be on hand at Tulse Hill station to address people's concerns directly in the coming days. We are pleased that they have agreed to do this.

"We are in daily contact with Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, on this issue, and are keeping a close eye on the service provided. We will not let up until a decent service is provided."

[ENDS]

For more information, please contact Gabriel Huntley on 07890 626099 or Duncan Chapman on 020 7219 2517.

Notes to editors

2.   The parliamentary constituency of Streatham covers Streatham, parts of Balham, Brixton, Clapham and Tulse Hill.

3.  The Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP is the Labour Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood.  She has held the seat since 1992.  The parliamentary constituency of Dulwich and West Norwood covers Dulwich, West Norwood, Gipsy Hill, Herne Hill, Knight's Hill and Thurlow Park.  Ms Jowell is also Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Olympics and London and Paymaster General.