St. Albans MP Anne Main, who I saw myself arriving at Westminster Tube station on Thursday morning, has continued her fight to get to the bottom of problems faced by St. Albans commuters.

Main took the concerns of local commuters to Phillip Hammond, the Secretary of State for Transport, earlier this week after, last week, asked the Prime Minister a question about reliability problems.

Main said, following the meeting, “I am determined to get to the bottom of why St Albans commuters seem

to constantly be suffering from disruption and receiving a poor

service.

"We all know there have been delays due to planned engineering works

and severe weather, but there certainly seem to be more delays than you

would expect, and passengers are furious.

“The transport secretary was very helpful and was determined to investigate the issue.

"We need to ensure that St Albans commuters receive a better service.

As a result, we are working together to produce data on who is causing

the delays.

"It is not productive to have a situation where Network Rail and First

Capital Connect can potentially pass the buck, rather than looking at

how to avoid disruption in future.

"We need to get to the bottom of this and get a better system.”

“Mr Hammond was also keen to stress that the public need to be better

informed, and I agree. Another key issue, which is always being raised

with me, is the need for St Albans commuters to be

offered fair and rapid compensation where things go wrong, and I am

keen to ensure this is delivered. The travelling public should not be

seen as a cash cow, and with that in mind I have written to

First Capital Connect managing director Neal Lawson to ask him to

address this.”