Minutes of Meeting in Wade Street Church Hall on Monday 13th November 2017. 8pm

Present: D Dixon (chairman), J Adams, D Bathurst, P Cousins, D James, KV Wasdell, P Martin, R Henshaw, R Hockney, M Frayn, I Jackson; R Hornsey (London Midland) from 8.30.
Apologies for Absence – B Pretty, D Smith, R Hartley, T Thompson, G Wilcox

Minutes of previous meeting – date corrected (to 9 October). Otherwise approved.

Chairman’s Report – (i)Newsletter issued and published on website, circulated by e-mail to members and by hard copy where no e-mail address held.
(ii)Attended WC250 meeting – Main Line franchise is being extended to 2030 as WC Partnership and no further consultation planned until after 2020. Has encouraged our MP to attend the All Party Parliamentary Group which is to be addressed by all three prospective bidders
(iii)We still wait for our recommended improvements to be implemented (see below).
Community Rail meeting – attended by D James who understood that the planned Access for All for LTV was now scheduled for CP6, i.e. from April 2019 (see below).

R Hornsey, Head of Route London Midland:
(i) advised that the new MD for West Midland Trains will be January Chaudhry Van der Velde, presently Head of Mersey Rail. No other appointments announced yet. Initially Rob and others will be expected to revert to their substantive roles/job descriptions.
(ii) There will be a livery for West Midlands Railway and a separate one for London Northwestern Railway, the two operating components of the new franchise;
(iii) Unsure which company will be responsible for Lichfield Trent Valley!
(iv) Circulated performance statistics for Cross City line and explained the reasons for recent shortcomings; none of LM making…
(v) New Cross-City rolling stock will include audible and visual information.
(vi) Revenue protection teams also to act against anti-social behaviour and issue spot fines (including for feet on seats). Some stations (eg) Sutton Coldfield and Longbridge) may be fitted with ticket barriers.

In response to the improvements that we have been seeking over the past year(s) he was able to confirm what we knew – that almost nothing has happened.
(i)Toilet facilities at Lichfield City – he will take to a higher level. It was noted that the sign directing people to use the toilets in the Bus Station will become obsolete when these toilets are closed as Friarsgate work starts.
(ii) Additional platform seats at both Lichfield stations – no progress beyond noting our requests.
(iii)Ramp to southbound platform at LTV is planned but implementation date not known.
(iv)Access for All at LTV – great concern when he confirmed David James’ suggestion that this will not be installed until CP6, after April 2019. Chairman will seek clarification from MP who has political support for earlier completion.
(v) no progress in implementing our staffing recommendations at both Lichfield stations – to recap, we have suggested that staff should be available a) to provide service, b) to allow the toilets to be kept open (even used!), c) to lock up the station, d) to deter vandalism, and e) to discourage ticketless travel. Extended ticket office hours not required!
Finally, a request was made for the Lichfield trains leaving New Street to be positioned in the middle of platform 8 as they were until recently, and not at the extreme end of the platform.

Next Meeting: 11th December, 8pm at Wade St Church, when Ian Jackson will take the chair in the absence of the Chairman and Secretary