Commuter chaos: Ask the Minister
7:40am Monday 26th January 2009 in Search Module By Andrew Greaves
TRANSPORT Secretary Geoff Hoon has agreed to answer YOUR questions over the state of the region’s railways.
The high-profile minister has agreed to address the concerns of readers of The Bolton News in the wake of our recent damning reports into the commuter crisis faced by thousands of Boltonians every morning.
It means commuters will get the chance to grill the Secretary of State over why they are being forced into overcrowded, late and expensive train carriages at a time when the Government is pleading for people to leave their cars at home.
Bolton MPs Brian Iddon and David Crausby, both of whom have lobbied the Government for a better train service in Greater Manchester for years, welcomed Mr Hoon’s decision to address the concerns of local rail users.
Dr Iddon, who has sent the Transport Secretary copies of recent reports in The Bolton News, said: “I am pleased he is going to face the people of Bolton because they need answers.
“There is a lot of anger across Greater Manchester, and most notably in Bolton, because the service at the moment is not acceptable.
“I have sent copies of The Bolton News to Geoff Hoon so he will know all about the problems faced by commuters every morning.”
Mr Crausby added: “This is the only way he is going to find out how bad the situation is, by engaging with the people on the ground.
“I have used the train to Manchester twice in the last few days and it has been standing room only. This is not acceptable, especially when there was a near-empty first class carriage at the back of the train.”
Operator Northern Rail has admitted that it cannot increase train capacity without consent from the Government — and that may not be granted for another five years, keeping unhappy passengers on bursting trains until 2014.
Preva Crossley, Bolton committee member of the Greater Manchester Transport Campaign, said he hoped readers would use the opportunity to get their concerns heard.
He said: “I think sometimes top politicians are a little out of touch with what is really happening and this will allow us to tell him and the Government about the problems we face. We need this problem sorting as soon as possible, not in five years.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said Mr Hoon was looking forward to addressing the concerns of Bolton commuters.
READERS can submit their questions to Geoff Hoon by writing to us at: Questions to Mr Hoon, Newsdesk, The Bolton News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE. Alternatively, you can email newsdesk@theboltonnews.co.uk, subject “Hoon Questions”. Please include your contact details and try to keep your questions concise. The final date for accepting questions will be Friday, January 30. We will forward the best ones to Mr Hoon and publish his responses in The Bolton News.
