Member

A new station must not be seen as job done, however. Train travel in this country is expensive and complicated. Ultimately, I do not believe that the public care too much about who runs the trains; they care more about how much rail travel costs them, whether the trains run on time and whether they are comfortable and efficient. They are often frustrated by the bewildering array of ticket options, whose detailed restrictions seem designed either to make them miss their train as they try to work out which one to buy, or to make them buy the wrong ticket. They are not designed for the faint of heart or the novice traveller. That seems like madness if we want to encourage more people to make use of public transport. The whole system needs to be simplified, and I am keen to see the legislation passed yesterday do just that. Without an economy that can support investment in new rail stations or the redevelopment of junctions, including the major Army and Navy interchange in the centre of Chelmsford, we know that such projects are in danger of never happening at all.