Lifts and interesting freedom of information releases.

Campaigning continues, with the current unreliability of Bedford Station lift giving us opportunities, and freedom of information requests resulting in us finding out a lot of what the Department for Transport kept secret from us. We know have confirmation of what trains they have been planning to run the ‘commuter’ service and the timetable they have been working on having the trains run to. We know how long they were planning for journeys to take (before cancelling electrification), what connection time they were planning for changing at Kettering, just how abysmal the service between the Luton stations and Leicester/beyond will be and a load more. In terms of lifts, we are now aware of at least six multi-day lift failures at Bedford station in the last two months, each of which has caused extensive problems for some individuals. This has been brought to the attention of Bedford MP Moh. Yasin, who has agreed to raise it with the Minister, while making the point – crucial for us – that requiring people to change trains at a station like Kettering will result in a massive increased dependence on lifts, which will need to be much more reliable than Bedford Station’s lifts. It is really important to maximise the effectiveness of this that as many people as possible who at least (sometimes) have particular difficulties changing trains, when it involves lifts/stairs (eg travelling with children/luggage or are disabled) fill in the form at https://goo.gl/forms/h7VDj8lAWvvRUNOu2,or email me at ben.foley@greenparty.org.uk, please. As for the information from freedom of information requests, if you would like a summary please also fill in the form at https://goo.gl/forms/h7VDj8lAWvvRUNOu2.