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News Release 13th June 2003MEETING WITH CENTRAL TRAINSMichael Fabricant met in Lichfield this afternoon (Friday 13th June) with Nick Brown (Managing Director) and Nigel Pennington (Director, West Midlands Services) of Central Trains Limited to discuss the level of service between the two Lichfield stations and Birmingham. Mr Fabricant has received a number of complaints from constituents concerning trains which stopped short of Lichfield City Station and Lichfield Trent Valley Station, cancelled services, and late running services. "Both directors admitted to me that there were problems which peaked in November and December last year with a greater reliability being achieved by March." says Michael Fabricant. "I told both directors how disappointed local commuters and I feel with the level of service particularly at that time and they admitted there have been problems with the track, the trains themselves, and with the crew. However, they believe that they are beginning to resolve these issues though there may be further problems this coming autumn due to those infamous leaves on the line which seem to present a real problem on the Lichfield to Redditch track. "In particular, I expressed my deep concern about trains from Birmingham not reaching their destination - either stopping short at Blake Street and not reaching Lichfield at all or getting as far as Lichfield City leaving commuters stranded while their cars are parked at Trent Valley. "I was told that a new timetable and a system of better informing customers as to where a train will terminate is being introduced and I hope that this will lead to a more reliable and predictable service for commuters. Meanwhile, I will continue to keep the level of service under close review and may be calling for further meetings.", Michael added. "Clearly, while there have recently been some major improvements, the train service to Birmingham and beyond continues to present some problems and this will not be resolved overnight". |
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