SPEAKING after travelling on the 08.16 Monday morning service from Lockerbie to Edinburgh with the Managing Director of Transpennine Trains Mr Vernon Barker, local MP David Mundell said:

"I invited Mr Barker to Lockerbie station so that he could meet for himself station users and hear directly from them their concerns about Transpennine services to and from Lockerbie. In particular I received a large number of complaints recently about overcrowding, specifically on afternoon trains from Edinburgh where many local people have had to stand for the whole journey and in some cases struggled even to get on the train because of the volume of luggage accompanying passengers to Manchester Airport. This is not acceptable and that message was relayed loud and clear to Mr Barker not just at Lockerbie station but as we went up and down meeting people on the train on which we travelled to Edinburgh.

"The other issue which I had previously raised with Mr Barker and was brought up during his visit, was the need for direct early morning services which can get people into Glasgow and Edinburgh before 9am for work and meetings or medical appointments.

"I have campaigned for such a service for many years and many promises have been made but it is absolutely essential if we are going to give people a real opportunity to commute from this area to jobs in the cities. As studies have shown, that would be a tremendous boost for the local economy.

"The final issue raised with Mr Barker was the need for a balanced timetable at the station which would see regular services particularly to and from Edinburgh rather than the hotchpotch we have at the moment, and again a wish for later services leaving Edinburgh and Glasgow so that local people could attend evening entertainment events in our major cities. I was pleased at the end of the visit that Mr Barker took on board fully the points that had been raised with him during his visit to Lockerbie station and journey to Edinburgh and I welcome the fact that he has committed to look at these issues: particularly the need to put more carriages on the busiest trains as well as trying to find a way to deliver early morning services. However I will be continuing to press for these improvements because my experience of the rail industry is that you only know that something that has been promised is being delivered, when it actually happens."