MPs told Hull Trains on track with improvements

FIRST Hull Trains has assured the city's three MPs that rail services will continue to improve following a summer of disruption on the main London to Hull route.

Hull North MP Diana Johnson led the meeting with FirstGroup Managing Director Vernon Barker alongside Hull West and Hessle MP Alan Johnson and the office of Hull East MP Karl Turner.

It came after a series of delays and cancellations, which affected passengers travelling between Hull and London this summer.

The trio of MPs stressed that "a reliable, affordable train service" was crucial to Hull's economy, particularly when businesses such as Siemens were looking to invest in the city.

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Speaking after the meeting, Ms Johnson said: "We had a positive meeting today with First Hull Trains and were given assurances the service would continue to improve.

"It was a good opportunity to question Mr Barker face-to-face and to hear explanations as to why the service had suffered over recent months.

"He confirmed that a number of the problems had stemmed from technical difficulties with its train stock and that the seven-a-day service had suffered due to a shortage of operational trains.

"He told us these issues had now been addressed and that the service had improved over recent weeks."

Mr Turner said they felt reassured the improvement would continue.

He said: "We are confident First Hull Trains is working to sustain this improvement and we will be holding regular update meetings to monitor progress."

Ms Johnson initiated the meeting in July when a train she was travelling on from London to Hull unexpectedly terminated at Doncaster, meaning onward passengers had to be taken to the city by bus.

She and Hull's other MPs say businesses in the city have raised First Hull Trains' reliability as an issue.

Mr Johnson said: "Hull Trains is an important part of the economic future for the city but it has to maintain the high quality of service that it was noted for when the service first began. The meeting convinced me that Hull Trains is taking measures to tackle the problems that passengers faced in the summer but we will maintain close contact with the company."

First Hull Trains apologised to passengers earlier this year after it was unable to run its usual 14 services a day after two of its trains were damaged.

A spokesman for First Hull Trains said: "The meeting was very positive and constructive and we now have a mutual understanding about what needs to be done as we continue to deliver a good service for the people we serve.

"We remain focused on delivering a top-class service for residents and businesses in Hull and the East Riding as well as people who board at the other stations we serve en-route to London.

"We are pleased to be getting things back on track."