There have been two issues recently that have filled my inbox; Royal Mail deliveries and teething issues with contactless ticketing at our stations; so, in the last couple of weeks I have held meetings to address both these concerns.
Firstly, I met the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, to discuss what progress can be made to ensure pay as you go recognises travel cards, and that any charging glitches are resolved and compensated.
The good news is that the work on travel cards is underway. It has been delayed due to the severity of the cyber security incident experienced by TfL last year, however work is being done and I was clear with the Minister that we need it introduced sooner rather than later.
On charging glitches, the Minister said he will be raising it urgently to ensure customers who have been charged incorrectly can seek compensation.
When we successfully secured the roll out of contactless, it was to ensure an easier experience for rail passengers. I will not stop pushing until this is the case.
Secondly, despite reassurance from Royal Mail, postal deliveries locally have not improved and continue to be unacceptable, especially in the TN15 area. The poor service is leading to infrequent deliveries and important mail arriving late (including hospital appointments, bank cards etc).
I therefore recently met again with Senior Management to share my pressing concerns and demand answers as to how improvements will be made with urgency.
The Regional Operations Director for the South East explained that recruiting in the Sevenoaks and Tonbridge areas has been challenging, but they have now recruited 21 new posties, with plans in place for absentees. Daily scrutiny of routes is also taking place, so that no delivery area should go more than one day without a delivery.
I have requested the TN15 area be specially examined, and I will share their feedback as soon as I hear back from them. Many of you also shared with me additional problem areas when I posted on Facebook about the meeting, so I will ensure these are also passed on.
I hope the changes being implemented will lead to an improvement in service, however, please do keep me updated with your experience and continue to share with me the specific streets where you are seeing issues. I will not rest until it is resolved.
