Wednesday, 9 October, 2002, 13:15 GMT 14:15 UK Rail passengers call for reliablity
Services won't be as quick as originally planned
Plans to improve journey times for rail passengers in the Midlands have failed to impress business leaders and train users in the area.
The Government's new Strategic Rail Authority has announced there will be more trains travelling between London and the Midlands and better journey times.
Services won't be as quick as originally planned, because parts of the West Coast Main Line modernisation project have been abandoned.
But business leaders in Birmingham and Solihull say reliability is more important to passengers.
Louise Beard, policy director for Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the plan didn't include extending platforms at Birmingham's New Street station.
"Passengers are interested in the reliability of train times rather than how fast they go," she said.
"There is no doubt that extensions to the platforms is essential if the reliability and efficiency of the trains are to be improved.
"The fact that the Strategic Rail Authority has chosen not to consider platform extensions for at least the next ten years is a blow for West Midlands passengers and a setback for the region's transport plans."
Rail passengers
Phil Davis, from the Rail Passengers Committee, said passengers had to suffer because a lot of promises were not being met.
"We've gone from the bright new world of the privatised railway offering all sorts of goodies to the hard reality of having to get the track sorted because of Railtrack's incompetence."
Jim Steer, from the Strategic Rail Authority, said it wasn't about downgrading the project.
"It's about being prudent, sensible and able to ensure that we can deliver," he said.
Rail bosses plan to have 58 services running every day between London and Birmingham by 2004 – almost double the amount of services now.
