Rail users form Wellingborough Commuter Group in the wake of Bedford crash amid concerns about passenger safety
A new group has been set up in Wellingborough to campaign for a more reliable and safer service, as well as hold management to account after the rail crash in Bedford in June.
Wellingborough Commuter Group (WCG), inspired by the Bedford Commuters Association, will work on behalf of regular rail users in the town to hold East Midlands Railway (EMR), the company which operates the route between Wellingborough and London, to account.
Graham Brogden, a regular EMR commuter and spokesperson for WCG, said: “As frequent EMR passengers, many of us have been concerned about passenger safety and service reliability for years – long before the recent fatal crash.
“Our sympathies go to the family of the driver who died and all those affected both passengers and EMR staff. It is not acceptable that passengers on the train that crashed are now being ignored by EMR.
“Concerns about faults on EMR trains have been flagged to EMR senior management for years but have continued to fall on deaf ears.
“Service cancellations, air conditioning that does not work at all or is ineffective in heatwaves, poor lighting, faulty doors and toilets out of action are just some of the issues many commuters have faced on an almost daily basis. These issues have been repeatedly flagged to EMR to no avail, yet passengers continue to pay a considerable sum for their sub-standard journey.
“When the tragic crash happened, we were shocked and saddened but not surprised at all.”
On June 19 this year, two southbound East Midlands Railway trains collided on a portion of the railway line just south of Elstow in Bedford. just after 5pm, a 360 Connect train left Corby and stopped at Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford to pick up passengers, and shortly after the 360 train crashed into the back of a stationary Intercity train.
Earlier this month the Rail Accident Investigation Branch released an interim report into the incident, where it was found the 360 connect train sped past a red danger signal, and the brakes were applied about 10 seconds before the collision, decelarating the train from about 76 mph to 50mph when it crashed.
The collision resulted in the death of 60-year-old train driver Shaun Burton, and a further 160 people were injured.
In the wake of the incident, WCG has formed to challenge EMR and senior management, while being in consultation with the long-established Bedford commuter group.
Graham uses the service to commute to London three days a week, and believes EMR is ‘kicking the can down the road until it’s nationalised’, and says issues with lighting, heating, and toilet access on board have been frequent.
He also noted that the fatal crash in June ‘appears to have been the tipping point for Gen Kitchen (Wellingborough and Rushden MP) and Lee Barron (Corby MP) to have started to challenge and raise issues with East Midlands Railway.’
The new Wellingborough group has since gained the support of Ms Kitchen, who has been assisting the group with their efforts.
Ms Kitchen said: “Since being elected I have maintained a good relationship with EMR to ensure that I can raise concerns on behalf of residents when needed. These concerns have escalated this year and so I arranged a roundtable event where commuters could speak to EMR management directly.
“One of the follow-up actions from that was to help local rail users to launch a commuter group, similar to a well-established group in Bedford.
“My office has been assisting with this over the summer and I am pleased to see the group now formally launch. It would be great to see more rail users join the group and I hope it makes it easier for my constituents, who use the EMR service, to highlight problems and force improvements.”
Commuters who would like to join the group are asked to contact Gen Kitchen’s office at [email protected].