Steve Brine is set to hold the latest of his popular ‘ASK’ events later this month.
The Winchester & Chandler’s Ford MP will chair a meeting on the evening of Thursday 31st January where constituents will be able to put questions to the managing directors of South Western Railway and the Wessex Route within Network Rail.
SWR took over the franchise in August 2017 and have faced a difficult start to their tenure with ongoing industrial action, overrunning engineering works and a drop in performance which led to an independent performance review being ordered by the Secretary of State. In addition, a 3.1% fair increase for 2019 was recently brought in which has angered some users and Mr Brine has said the rise should be scrapped.
Steve Brine said; “2018 was an extremely trying year for my constituents who rely on the railway, whether as commuters or leisure travellers and I think we’ve all felt the fall in performance showing up in the statistics. My ASKSWT event with the previous franchise holder was a good opportunity for passengers to speak directly with those running the service across train operating company and the wider network.
“I hope constituents will come and will find the event a useful chance to engage directly with those running our local train service.”
The event will be held in central Winchester and is open to Winchester & Chandler's Ford constituents by prior registration to ensure a safe event. To register please email [email protected] or call 01962 791110.