More trains and seats follow meeting between John Baron MP, Billericay councillors and Greater Anglia

MP and Councillors maintain watching brief

Recently John Baron MP convened a meeting with the Greater Anglia management team and Billericay Councillors to discuss concerns over train frequency and crowding on London-bound services from Billericay at peak times.

John said,

“Constituents have rightly been raising concerns with me and Councillors about service levels and crowding on London-bound services to and from Billericay at peak times. I therefore convened a meeting with Councillors and the management of Greater Anglia to discuss the issues.”

“It was a constructive meeting. The management agreed to introduce additional morning peak services, schedule more 10 carriage formations, introduce new trains with greater seating capacity as quickly as possible and work to solve problems on other neighbouring lines which have a beneficial knock-on effect on Billericay. There was also a commitment to working with myself and Councillors to adjust the timetable to meet demand and improve services wherever practical. It is hoped these changes will ease the problems recently experienced by commuters, but we remain watchful.”

Cllr Phil Turner said,

“On residents’ behalf we took up the issues of a reduced peak time service, reductions in carriages, overcrowding, cancellations and delays and in response to residents’ demands Greater Anglia CEO Jamie Burles committed to running more trains of 10 carriages and introduced an additional service at 7:47.”

“While we have experienced disruptions to these commitments recently as a result of network rail points failures, we are grateful to Jamie Burles for delivering against his commitments.”

“However we remain committed to fighting for residents’ demands to return to a full pre-pandemic time table at the earliest opportunity and as soon at passenger numbers permit.”

Jamie Burles, Managing Director of Greater Anglia, said,

“We are committed to providing the best possible service for Billericay customers and other rail travellers on the Southend and Southminster lines. Following a helpful meeting organised by John Baron MP, we have been able to introduce targeted improvements to train frequency, train capacity and service consistency at peak times, which should provide a better service for passengers. We are fully focused on continuing to provide a good service on the line, increasing capacity as demand increases, delivering a very reliable service and bringing in more new trains.”