Anonymous Complaint.

I received an email from someone detailing his complaint to 'one', and the response he received from them. His original email is in red, their reply in blue. The formatting might not be exactly correct, as I have reformatted the emails.

I am writing to complain regarding the poor service currently being offered to Customers of the branch line as above.

I am a resident living in SWF and because of the lack of trains out of Woodham every day I am forced to drive to Wickford Station to connect with a train to enable me to get to my destination of Stratford. The trains leaving Liverpool street station in the evening do not even stop at Stratford.

Is there any possibility that trains for Southminster can stop at Stratford and be more frequent?

Please let me know thanks.

XXXX

He received this reply by email.

-----Original Message-----
From: customer.services@onerailway.com
[mailto:customer.services@onerailway.com]
Sent: 28 July 2004 09:54
To: XXXX@nowhere.com
Subject: Re: Southminster branch Line

Ref: YYYY

July 28, 2004

Dear XXXX

Thank you for your letter concerning Southminster branch services.

We are constrained by the geography of the route ( a single line with a passing point at Fambridge) which means that the best frequency we can currently offer is about one train every 40 minutes. To offer a more frequent service than this would require major infrastructure enhancements such as additional sections of double-track. For major investment schemes of this nature, the Strategic Rail Authority would be in the lead, rather than train operating companies such as ourselves. Within the limitations of the current infrastructure, therefore, we are unable to increase the frequency of service at present.

'one' Great Eastern is well aware of the increase in usage of Stratford as an interchange point, as employment in Docklands continues to grow. However, the present infrastructure does not allow any more stops at Stratford in either the morning or evening peak periods. We are at a stage whereby no further stops can be introduced at Stratford without impacting on the number of trains we can reliably run in the peak periods. There is simply no room in the timetable for additional Stratford stops without reducing the number of trains that we can run. Planned expansion of the service at Stratford is being discussed, and will happen in the long term, but is dependent on major infrastructure work being carried out (the extension of platform 10A to accommodate 12 coach trains, new signalling and bridgework between Maryland and Stratford). Therefore, in the immediate future we are unable to increase the number of 'one' Great Eastern trains stopping at Stratford.

I am sorry I cannot be more positive, but I do hope I have clarified the position.

Yours sincerely,

Jeff Cracknell
Customer Relations
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http://www.onerailway.com

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London Eastern Railway Ltd Registered in England No. 4955356 Registered
Office: 75 Davies Street, London, W1K 5HT.

I suggested he asked for a letter which does reflect the views of onerailway, as the disclaimer at the bottom says it does not necesarily do so. If you get such an email, then it is not unreasonable to ask for an official response, that does reflect their views. This might cause the issue to be raised at a more senior level inside one.