Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has called on Transport Ministers to urge Network Rail to allocate additional diesel carriages to the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury service to ease capacity issues.
After a number of complaints from constituents who use the London Midland service from Codsall and Bilbrook stations to commute to Wolverhampton and beyond, Gavin urged London Midland to look into the possibility of additional stops from other services and more carriages on the existing services.
Over the past 10 years, there has been expediential passenger growth at both Codsall and Bilbrook Stations yet the commuter services have remained almost unchanged.
As the line is not electrified, diesel trains would be needed to enhance capacity and as there are no new ones being built, there is a national shortage. However, as more and more lines are becoming electrified across the country, more diesel trains are becoming available.
Gavin has urged the Minister responsible for trains, Claire Perry MP if she could press Network Rail to do all that it can to see that this service is allocated the diesel trains to increase capacity when they become available.
Commenting on this Gavin said: “My constituents spend vast sums of money on season tickets for a service that, quite frankly, is at a very poor standard. Passenger numbers have grown considerably over the past decade and no changes have been made to accommodate the rising numbers of rail customers.
“I understand this would not be a simple exercise but have the firm view that it would be highly beneficial to both my constituents and those in neighbouring constituencies that frequently use the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury service to get to and from work.”