In his regular column for the Hereford Times, Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman takes train company Transport for Wales to task

ONE of the worst aspects of the pandemic has been the effect of lockdown on education, at every level.

In the face of massive disruption and uncertainty, teachers, heads and school staff across Herefordshire have done a phenomenal job in their efforts to make sure that every child gets to school and is properly taught.

But the pandemic continues to cast a long shadow. In late August it became apparent that Transport for Wales, which operates the key north-south trains in and out of Hereford, would not be returning to a full service. Instead they would be offering students a reduced timetable, together with a bus service.

Unfortunately, reality was rather different even to that. The already small two-carriage trains had their capacity further reduced through social distancing, but without any offsetting increase in the number of carriages.

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There were no trains scheduled to arrive between 7.45am and 8.45am, the key time for students, with a similar story in the afternoon. The buses increased the journey time by an hour or more for students coming from further away. 

Worst of all, some students were allowed to travel on the train, while others were put onto the buses.

But as many pointed out, they have all paid the same fares; none deserves to be treated like a second class citizen.

I have been working with the college heads since the summer to try to get this sorted.

Nearly four weeks ago I called together a session for all the local college heads with the operations director of Transport for Wales. We went through the issues and they promised to make improvements.

But nothing really seems to have changed. So last week I wrote with my colleague Bill Wiggin MP to the chief executive of Transport for Wales, copying in the chief executive of the train operating company, KeolisAmey Wales. Students’ concerns were given a great airing on BBC Hereford and Worcester as well. 

So I hope the message is getting through. We need an action plan and we need concrete assurances now. The college heads and I are not unrealistic; we know these things can take time.

What is unacceptable is not having a clear and agreed plan. The idea that TfW cannot find additional carriages when the entire UK railway system is running so far below capacity due to Covid is simply not credible.