First Capital Connect - We need a lasting resolution

Anne Main comments on her meeting with Mary Grant, Chief Executive of First Capital Connect.

Commenting on her meeting with Mary Grant, Chief Executive of First Capital Connect yesterday (Wednesday 9th December), Anne Main, MP for St Albans, said:

"Disappointingly, it emerged that there was little hope of a full resolution of services until the New Year, as we are dependent on whether the drivers agree to the pay settlement. We pressed hard for Mary Grant to give us a concrete date for when this would happen, and made it clear that this matter must be resolved as a matter of urgency. I very much hope that this was taken on board.

Both Mary Grant and Tom Joyner apologised profusely for FCC's failures in communication with MPs and passengers and they freely admitted there had been major failures in communication. We are told that new communication mechanisms will be put in place and I hope these will prove much more effective.

We were keen to answers on the contractual arrangements for new drivers as we wanted FCC to ensure that a lasting resolution was in place, and I was disappointed that no answers were forthcoming on this issue due to 'commercial sensitivities'.

Compensation was another key question, and I made it clear that it was not good enough to only compensate for late running services. I believe that there should be a goodwill package to compensate season ticket holders and Mary Grant agreed to go away and consider this.

It was a tough meeting, and I was pleased to have a chance to put some issues to management directly, and pass on some of my constituents' experiences to give them a real sense of the anger of commuters.

Mrs Grant and Mr Joyner agreed to go away and consider the points raised in detail and come back to update us early in the New Year. I hope that they will be working as hard as they possibly can to resolve this in the meantime, and I will be keeping in close contact to ensure they are."