Kramer to press ministers on commitments to commuters

12.00.00am GMT Fri 2nd Feb 2007

Susan Kramer (Lib Dem MP for Richmond) is to question Ministers about their commitments that they have made to commuters from the Kingston and Richmond areas who use rail services into Waterloo. It follows a meeting she had with South West Trains this week when she raised a number of issues of concern.

These included:

· the date for implementation of the Oyster Card across the South West Trains network for pay as you go passengers

· the removal of seating to increase capacity on local trains at peak times

· levels of fare rises

· the timing of transferring Eurostar platforms at Waterloo for use by South West trains to increase platform capacity for local commuters

· the problems of the new touch screen ticket machines at stations that go out of order when they get wet

For the last two years Susan Kramer has campaigned with colleague MP Ed Davey to ensure that the Eurostar platforms at Waterloo are transferred to South West Trains when Eurostar moves to St Pancras.

Susan Kramer said:

"I will be tabling questions to the Transport Minister about my concerns. When the franchise for the rail service came up for renewal we were promised a lot.

"We were promised that the extra platforms at Waterloo would be made available as soon as possible but there is now talk of them being used for diverted trains while work goes on at London Bridge . I hope that this does not mean years of waiting for extra capacity at Waterloo .

"We want the pay as you go Oyster Card scheme on rail services as soon as possible. The talk is now of 2009 when previously we thought it would be next year. There are even rumours that this will drag on until 2010 before we see the implementation.

"I also think the government is underestimating the expansion of passengers numbers on our local services for the future. They are projecting a 20 per cent increase but if you look at the last ten years passenger numbers have gone up by 50 per cent.

"I hate to think what this means for overcrowding which is already bad on peak journeys."