Commuter says sorting out London Northwestern Railway train services a priority over reducing fares

That is the view of Oxhey commuter Dan Hall, who is one of many passengers to have been affected by disruption to several LNR train services.

Following the 2.7 per cent average national increase on train fares in 2020, West Midlands Trains (WMT), which runs LNR, said passengers purchasing weekly, monthly and annual season tickets will be offered a three per cent discount that offsets the rise.

The company said this was to compensate for the disruption and delays to services since a new timetable was introduced in May 2019.

But Mr Hall, who regularly commutes from Bushey Station to Euston, said the priority should be to “sort out” train services on LNR than reduce fares.

He said: “It all seems back to front. Bushey Station is only getting busier and there are less carriages on trains and some services no longer stop at the station.

“It seems the problem is not being addressed. Trains not stopping at Bushey should be returned and should also be increased in length.”

Mr Hall hit out after two early morning services stopped serving Bushey after the new timetable was introduced.

Read more: London Northwestern axes two morning Bushey services

However, it looks like LNR are bringing back one of the services later this month, stopping at Bushey at 7.04am.

Passengers using Bushey Station have been unhappy with the service since the new timetable was introduced by @LNRailway. I’ve been in touch with their managers to raise passengers’ concerns. From 20 January there’ll be an extra 7.14 weekday service in the morning at Bushey pic.twitter.com/DMGIKxDNR5

— Peter Taylor (@WatfordMayor) January 6, 2020

When Mr Hall was asked if he thought the three per cent discount to LNR train fares was good enough, he said: “I think it’s a sensible decision to offer a discount, but from the service commuters have received I think it should be a 10 per cent discount.”

Currently the discount to train fares on LNR has only been rolled out at staffed ticket offices, which Mr Hall said makes it harder to receive the discount on fares.

He called it an “inconvenience” to get to a ticket office from Bushey in order to receive the discounted fare, which is set to be rolled out online in due course.

Daniel Lees, a commuter who uses LNR to travel from Watford Junction to Milton Keynes, also felt the discount should be higher since “there are times the service that passengers are getting does not match up to the price of the ticket”.

One time in 2019 Mr Lees had been forced to wait at Hemel Hempstead for more than two hours while waiting for a train heading towards Watford to arrive.

The 24-year-old from the town said: “The service varies from day to day, but usually I find the service is good when there are no problems.

“But there are times when it is a pain to travel on LNR services.”

After announcing the discount to train fares on LNR services, Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, managing director of WMT, said: “In recognition of the poor performance, this compensation package for our regular customers when they renew their season tickets will offset the national fares rise.

"We have said for some time now that performance and timekeeping since the May 2019 timetable has not been good enough.”