Andrew Dismore

Letter for publication

In his letter of 26^th June, David Statham, managing director of First Capital Connect, suggests that he offered to meet me a number of times this year. This is not true. I have had no invitation to meet him or anyone else from FCC.

If I had been invited I would have accepted, but I do not think he needs me to tell him how unpopular are his company and the  Thameslink service for which it is responsible, until their franchise mercifully ends this September : talking to commuters would have told him all he needs to know.

The fact is that Thameslink under FCC was the most unpopular line in the country. TfL’s London Overground is the most popular-and its ratings have just gone up even more, to 91% overall passenger satisfaction. It is a pity that TfL were not allowed by the Government to bid for Thameslink, or at least the part of the service that supports London commuters.  Instead the Conservative  led Coalition has bundled Thameslink up with other lines, making the franchise bigger and more complex, in which the concern has to be that the needs of commuters from Mill Hill and Hendon  will come second to longer distance passengers.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Dismore

Labour candidate for Hendon and London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden