1.5k - now for leafletting!

Just before Christmas we passed 1,500 signatures, even before handing out one leaflet. Please keep sharing the petition: especially with friends/contacts on the route closer to London: SaveOurTrains.co.uk. To spread the message more systematically, we have 10,000 leaflets now. If you can help, whether by handing them out or in some other way, please indicate at the (new) form https://goo.gl/forms/miAYM58q3pGSP46l2. In particular, if you can be in Bedford in the week Tue 2nd – Mon 8th Jan, please help us to spread the word. On Tuesday 2nd we are also expecting a camera from BBC Look East, so if you can make the 07.30-08.30 slot on that day (or any other day that week, or a later slot on Sat 6th or Sun 7th) please register at http://save-our-trains-morning-leafleting-bedford.eventbrite.co.uk/. If you are more of a lark than me, and can make an earlier time, please register at https://save-our-trains-early-leafleting-bedford.eventbrite.co.uk for a 06.00-06.45 or 06.45-07.30 slot: we really want to catch the early commuters, too! Similarly, it would be great if we could have people at some of the other stations between Bedford and StPancras. If you think you might be available to leaflet at another station for an odd-half hour or so at some point between 06.00 and 08.45 on a weekday in January (or for part of the evening rush, or later in the morning at a weekend, please let us know that you are willing to help at https://goo.gl/forms/miAYM58q3pGSP46l2. We’ve got more information about what is behind the silly idea to make our train services worse in May. It seems in their rush to extend Thameslink operations to Cambridge and Kent, the planners didn’t think through deeply enough the implications for our line. To make sure one 30 second delay doesn’t magnify into long delays across half of the south-east, they have decided they need to have trains hanging around longer at their terminii. But to do this, they need more space at Bedford station and need East Mids Trains to have more trains available. They have found three extra six-car trains for East Mids, but these are shorter than the seven and eight car trains running a lot of the services at the moment. Rather than waiting until they have what they need to introduce the extra Thameslink routes (either in terms of station capacity or trains), they are choosing to cut out Bedford and Luton stops on East Mids Trains in the peak, and then as a knock-on from that, cut out Thameslink stops to spread the misery. So, lack of planning means we have to suffer. Thank you everyone for signing the petition: with hard campaigning we can get them to do better than this! Ben