After successfully campaigning to reinstate or introduce additional services at Water Orton Station to ease congestion, Rachel has called for more action from CrossCountry to improve things further for local passengers. In a letter to CrossCountry she said:
I am writing further to your letter of 11 May, in which you advised that you were unable to introduce the planned additional call at Water Orton on the 22:22 service from Birmingham New Street to Leicester, but that you hope to revisit this for the next timetable change in December’.
While I appreciate the continued engagement from CrossCountry on this matter and steps that have been taken to date to increase services, I must express my frustration that my constituents are still short of the service they need. As I have outlined previously, connectivity between Water Orton, Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham remains limited, and passengers continue to experience overcrowding and insufficient service provision, particularly at key commuting times.
This issue has now been under discussion for a considerable period. You will recall that I have consistently pressed for improved services, and that CrossCountry had previously indicated a willingness to explore options to better serve these stations. The current situation therefore represents a continuation of the gap between those commitments and delivery.
Furthermore, Network Rail has confirmed that proposals for additional calls at stations such as Water Orton would need to be initiated by CrossCountry. This reinforces the importance of action from you.
Given this context, I would be grateful if you could confirm explicitly whether CrossCountry will introduce the additional Water Orton call (including on the 22:22 Birmingham New Street to Leicester service) in the December timetable, and set out what steps are currently being taken to ensure that this commitment is delivered, including engagement with Network Rail and any operational constraints that remain.
My constituents have already waited too long for meaningful improvements to these services. My constituents who continue to withstand the disruption from HS2 works deserve a new service in time for Christmas so that they can enjoy Christmas events in Birmingham. I would therefore urge CrossCountry to treat the December timetable as a firm deadline for delivery, rather than a further point of review or yet another empty promise for Water Orton.
I look forward to your response and to seeing clear progress on this matter, and as always, please do advise on any action I can take to help facilitate the matter.
Kind regards
Rachel Taylor MP