Bedford Mayor Dave Hodgson has been slammed for ‘scaremongering’ over potential changes to the East Midlands peak time service to London used by Bedford commuters.
In July, the Department for Transport launched a consultation to inform the drafting of a new contract for the new East Midlands rail franchise from March 2019. The fast trains provided by the ‘Intercity’ service stopping at Bedford are popular with commuters travelling to London, as well as destinations to the north such as Kettering, Leicester and Nottingham.
As part of proposals to reduce crowding and journey times, Bedford will no longer be served by the Intercity service during peak hours, but will instead be provided with fast trains beginning at Corby.
While commuters travelling north will have to change at Kettering, a consultation meeting last week saw the Department for Transport assure commuters travelling to London that Bedford will be served by the same number of East Midlands trains during peak hours, with the same journey times, twice as many seats and no additional stops.
Following the meeting, Cllr Gianni Carofano, Conservative Group Spokesperson, said:
‘The Department for Transport’s consultation document initially did not adequately set out the effect on commuters of the proposed changes. It has now been clarified, however, that the same number of trains will be provided for Bedford commuters travelling to London, with those trains beginning their journey at Corby instead of Sheffield or Nottingham. This means no changes to journey times and twice as many seats.
‘Despite being well-aware of the position, Mayor Hodgson has been scaremongering about a loss of services to London to suit his own political ends. While the inconvenience for commuters travelling north needs to be addressed, the Department of Transport has been clear that commuters to London will not lose out.’