James Berry MP has co-ordinated a response from ten Members of Parliament in the South West London area to the Rail Executive’s consultation on the invitation to tender for the South Western route franchise, currently operated by South West Trains. The consultation will shape the “invitation to tender”, which is the document setting out what train operating companies bidding to run all train services in the Borough will be expected to deliver. 

The invitation to tender will be released in April 2016 with the contract being awarded in April 2017 for a June 2017 commencement.

James coordinated a response to the consultation from Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond MP, Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP, Rt. Hon. Justine Greening MP, Stephen Hammond MP, Jane Ellison MP, Zac Goldsmith MP, Dominic Raab MP, James Berry MP, Dr Tania Mathias MP and Paul Scully MP.

The response focused on capacity, punctuality, communication, frequency, fares and ticketing and step free access.

Commenting, James Berry said: 

“I thought it was really important that the Rail Executive had a joint response from South West London area MPs to highlight the major issue we have on train services in the region which is overcrowding.” 

James Berry invited local residents to get in touch with their views on our rail services and based his response on local residents’ concerns and his own experience as a Surbiton commuter. His response called for the re-zoning of Kingston and Surbiton stations to Zone 5 and, on overcrowding, James said:

“For commuters in the Borough, it is imperative that bidders’ ability to address overcrowding in the short – medium term is one of the key criteria against which any tender for the South Western route franchise is judged. It would be wholly unacceptable if tackling peak time overcrowding were seen as anything other than a first order and immediate priority”.