Damian Hinds has welcomed the news that trains from Hampshire will be lengthened.
The following services will be affected:
- Alton/Bentley:
08:44 Alton to Waterloo from 5 to 8 cars (although this will mean that the current white train will be replaced by a blue train).
18:25 Waterloo to Alton from 8 to 12 cars.
- Petersfield/Liss/Liphook:
07:29 Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo (leaving Peterfield at 08:08) from 5 to 10 cars.
These additional carriages will start to be rolled out from January 2014, but it may be another 12-18 months before commuters on these services begin to see the benefits.
To further increase train capacities, Waterloo International Terminal will be brought back into use to provide additional platform space. Network Rail will spend £282 million in the next five years on this reopening, and on improving the signalling, tracks and approach to Waterloo to make train services more reliable.
Damian Hinds said:
“I welcome any investment in the train services in Hampshire; I know as a regular user of the Alton and Petersfield lines to London myself that we need more carriages to avoid some of the problems that we all encounter on an all-too-frequent basis.
“From a recent briefing I am also aware that it is not primarily the capacity at Waterloo station that is the issue; it is the congestion at the throat before the station, at Woking, and –in the case of Petersfield trains – at Guildford. I hope to see investment when possible at these points as well.
“We will have to wait over a year to see clear signs of improvement, but I hope that in due course the extra capacity will make travelling from Hampshire a slightly better experience.”