Yellow Advertiser 8.9.05

by Steve Neale

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Rail bosses have agreed to reinstall 1,600 peak-time seats on the Fenchurch Street line following a 12 month Yellow Advertiser campaign.

c2 confirmed that three trains will increase from eight to 12 carriages, providing an extra 800 seats in each of the morning and evening prime times.

Rail campaigners and politicians praised the move and hailed YA's Back on Track campaign - launched in 2004 amid complaints about commuter overcrowding and the lack of seats - as a huge success.

Southend MP David Amess criticised the rail operator for removing carriages.

Fellow Tory MP for Castle Point, Bob Spink, raised the issue in Parliament on at least 3 occasions.

"They should never have been taken off the line," he said.

"This is a victory for common sense, but the line will still be short of capacity and we have to look at ways of making the journey more comfortable and attracting more people on the railway.

"I applaud the YA on its long running campaign, which was instrumental in bring pressure to get these trains returned."

c2c's route director Leila Frances confirmed the turnaround during a visit to Grays last Thursday.

She said that 3 trains loaned to the 'ONE' train company will return shortly.

"Their return is imminent," she said.

Meanwhile, a c2c spokesman hit back at Mr Spink's claims that the line would still be short of capacity.

"History is history," he said. "We now have the capacity back which we believe will provide enough seats for current demand.

"We have had reports that between 60 to 100 people are standing per train.

"This increase means eight trains where people will not be standing - at least for more than the 20 minutes outlined in the standards.

"We have done our research and listed to what people say.

"This is what people have been asking for, but obviously we will keep an eye on how things go".

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