A new timetable that will affect commuters using Hertford North could potentially be 'disastrous', the RMT has warned.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will roll out the timetable across its network on Sunday (May 20), which includes Great Northern services to and from
Hertford North.
The company is arguing that the changes will allow more trains to run, but commuters, politicians and the RMT has said that it could have negative consquences.
Conservative MP for Hertford and Stortford, Mark Prisk, condemned the changes in April, and called on GTR to justify its proposals to reduce the number of morning rush hour services from Hertford North from five to just three.
He said: "A lot of people of the Hertford Loop line have rightly complained about the decline in service we’re now going to get under the May timetable.
"I’ve looked at that timetable and it’s clear to me that the service will get worse, not better, if they go ahead as planned.
"So, I’ve written to the Chief Executive Charles Horton to express my concern and request an explanation as to why it is they’re reducing our service.
"We were made quite clear promises, both about the service and the quality of the rolling stock. It seems to me that they’re not being upheld.
"I’m challenging him to explain why his company is not doing what they promised."
Concerns about the changes have also been voiced from the RMT, which claims that the move would place massive strain on infrastructure and accused GTR of 'winging' the timetable.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "The planned new timetable on GTR will place massive additional strains on infrastructure and staffing levels that are already struggling to cope with current capacity.
"The company are winging it with potentially disastrous consequences. RMT has warned repeatedly about the pressure on the central core through the middle of London which is crucial to the delivery of these plans."
GTR claims that the changes it has made overall will allow more than another 50,000 people at peak times into London and that users would benefit from enhanced frequency, reliability and connectivity.
Charles Horton, GTR Chief Executive, said: “We are introducing the biggest ever change to our rail timetables to significantly boost capacity on the UK’s most congested network. We don’t want passengers to get caught out and so we strongly advise them to look up the times of their trains as they will find that from 20 May each and every one of them has changed.
“Due to the sheer scale of the changes, we will have to redeploy a large number of trains and crews and services may not run at normal times during the introductory phase, although the impact on peak time services during the transition will be minimal.
“Introduction of the new timetables is a major milestone in the delivery of RailPlan 20/20, our programme to modernise rail services, taking advantage of the new infrastructure and trains provided by the Government’s £7bn Thameslink Programme.”
