On Monday 23rd October Jon Cruddas MP and his Havering Coordinator Fay Hough met with C2C bosses to discuss the ongoing issues with their service through Rainham. After an extensive consultation earlier in the year, thousands of residents voiced their outrage at the poor service they were receiving from the train operator.
The key findings were that a combined 56 per cent of commuters who took part were concerned about overcrowding; and wanted more carriages at peak times to alleviate the issue. A further 26 per cent of participants also said that new timetables on the line had effected their journey in a negative way.
Jon Cruddas said: "Since our original sit down in the spring C2C have been hard at work implementing changes to the service, and I am happy with the level of efficiency they have approached these concerns with. This is a real victory for the many commuters using Rainham station every morning."
At the meeting earlier this year C2C bosses admitted that their services needed adapting as they weren't up to scratch. Since then C2C have introduced four more carriages during the morning rush hours, meaning that all five trains calling at Rainham between 7:15am and 8:30am have eight carriages instead of four.
C2C are currently in the process of reshaping their services to accommodate for the new Beam Park housing development, which will include new trains bringing a total of 60 new carriages to the line. C2C highlighted at the recent meeting that they are keen to get input from local residents as they move forward and develop the service.
Havering Coordinator Fay Hough said: "I think this is a fantastic idea. As the lead for the campaign I will be setting up a ?user group' of five or six commuters who use the service at different times, to make sure everyone is represented. The user group will be a way for residents to have a voice on improving the service, and will regularly meet with and feed back to C2C bosses and train planners."
Jon and Fay both echoed that ?the campaign was huge, and C2C recognised that their service was letting Rainham residents down. This user group is a fantastic opportunity to take the campaign further, working alongside C2C to make sure the people of Rainham have their voices heard.'
If you are interested in being part of the user group please email Fay Hough at labourfay@outlook.com