Govia Thameslink Franchise Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
Mohammad Yasin
Main Page: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)Department Debates - View all Mohammad Yasin's debates with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
Govia Thameslink Franchise
Mohammad Yasin Excerpts(5 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Joseph Johnson
I thank my right hon. Friend for recognising that there has been some improvement since the introduction of the interim timetable on Sunday. He has been a strong champion of his constituents and their rail services in Hassocks. He and I have discussed how we can restore the direct services that he has mentioned on several occasions, and we have had debates on them in the House. I assure him that I will continue to raise the matter with GTR.
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
The Minister is saying that there is no quick fix, but I suggest to him that there is a quick fix for Bedford rail users—reinstating the East Midlands Trains service for rail users. They are struggling with Govia Thameslink, which has breached its contract with the DFT twice since 2015 and has surely done so again. The major cause of the failure was insufficient and under-qualified drivers, and it is the same cause this time. Will the Government publish the remedial plan from the second breach so that we can determine the extent of Thameslink’s unprecedented and repeated failings?
Joseph Johnson
The hon. Gentleman has been a strong voice for his constituents. We have met on a number of occasions to discuss EMT’s services and the withdrawal of services to Bedford in the peak. As he knows, we are working hard with EMT to see what can be done. There is no easy solution, given the constraints, and I would caution him against thinking that there is a quick fix. If there were, the amount of effort that the Department and the train operators have been putting into finding a solution would have produced one by now.