Six MPs are calling on the Government to help cut congestion on some rail services to Northampton, which are among the busiest in the country.
Department for Transport (DfT) statistics for December showed three rush-hour London Midland trains from Euston were among the 10 most overcrowded.
The group of MPs is calling for London Midland passengers to be allowed to use Virgin services to Milton Keynes, on trains which they say often have spare seating.
The letter to the DfT is signed by Northampton MPs Brian Binley and Michael Ellis, South Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom, Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris and Milton Keynes MPs, Iain Stewart and Mark Lancaster.
It claims there is spare capacity on Virgin’s Pendolino trains leaving Euston midweek at 1720, 1723, 1820 and 1823, services which London Midland passengers travelling to Milton Keynes are currently prohibited from using.
The December statistics showed the 1648 London Midland service was running at 160 per cent capacity; the 1746 at 152 per cent and the 1813 at 162 per cent. The MPs said it would be a “common sense arrangement” to allow London Midland passengers to use these trains as an interim arrangement, a call backed by the Northampton Rail Users Group (RUG).
Paul Minton, vice-chairman of the RUG, said: “If you think they are running three of the 10 most loaded services and most of them stop at Milton Keynes, it would be a direct relief. It is practical and low-cost. Part of the deal with the West Coast Main Line running through the county is that it should stop and serve.
“It may inconvenience a few hundred people, but it would help thousands of people locally.”
Neil Langford, from London Midland, told a RUG meeting on Saturday that any discussions between the two rail companies would have to be facilitated by the Department for Transport.
Comments