On Wednesday 22nd January, Woking’s MP, Will Forster set out his plan to members from Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats about how MPs should look at the government’s plan to nationalise the railways. Many Woking constituents use South Western Railway for work leisure and daily life but have reported vast amounts of issues. Will, as their local MP is committed to raising them with cross party support.
South Western Railway’s current contract is set to expire at the end of May, marking the first ordered transfer under this process. All contracts will remain in place until 29th May.
Will Forster led a debate in the House of Commons when he first started as an MP, to fight for a better deal on ticket pricing and safety issues.
Mr. Forster used his speech at the inaugural meeting to state:
“I’ve set up this cross-party group in Parliament to properly make sure Woking passengers get a fair deal.
“People have been writing to me about it so much. They really care about this.
“SWR has reassured us that the changeover at the end of May will be seamless, with no disruption to passengers. I want to make sure that’s actually the case.”
SWR reassured members that there would be continuity with the current service during this period. Regular meetings with the Department for Transport (DfT) are ongoing to address any issues and guarantee a smooth transition. The four companies currently under national ownership are operating in the same way, with no changes to service delivery. The Public Affairs team at SWR gave an update to MPs present and really reinforced that there would be consistency and a business-as-usual approach to ensure a seamless transition, with operations continuing as normal from day one.
Liberal Democrat MP, Will Forster, has announced that he has set up a new cross-party Parliamentary group aimed at empowering passengers by holding South Western Railway to account.
