John Lamont MP met with local rail campaigners at Reston railway station to back their calls for a more reliable service.
The Scottish Borders MP joined the team from the Rail Action Group East of Scotland (RAGES) to discuss what improvements were necessary to encourage more passengers to use the rail services to and from Reston.
RAGES members Barrie Forrest, Tom Thorburn and Tom Dixon joined John Lamont MP at Reston station for the productive discussion.
They raised problems for passengers including late cancellations, long delays, a substandard timetable, high fares and booking website issues.
The group also held a virtual meeting with Graham Meiklejohn, the Head of Regional Development for TransPennine Express (TPE). A further meeting has been scheduled to discuss pricing.
The Scottish Borders MP will also write to Scotrail about the ticket machine on the platform which doesn't offer the full range of ticket prices.
John Lamont MP said: “Passengers deserve a better, more reliable service at Reston railway station.
“It was great to meet with the team from the Rail Action Group again to discuss what needs to be improved.
“There are a host of problems for passengers that must be addressed. I know that there are concerns that it appears to be more expensive to buy train tickets from Reston compared to the stations at Berwick or Dunbar. This is clearly unfair. Journeys could also be far easier to book and schedule.
“We look forward to working with TransPenine Express Trains to achieve a better service for local people.”
Tom Thorburn, Honorary President of the Rail Action Group East of Scotland (RAGES), said: “Three of the RAGES Committee met with John Lamont MP and Graham Meiklejohn to discuss the serious concerns centred around the high level of cancellation of TPE’s trains serving Reston, Berwick and Dunbar stations.
“These cancellations, along with other points raised regarding fares and information, are preventing passengers from having the ability to use this new station at Reston, resulting in the unfortunate passenger having to revert back to a much less environmentally friendly means of transport.
“This meeting was very thorough, constructive and informative to the issues raised by the RAGES representative committee. Agreement was reached that Mr Meiklejohn would take these concerns to the highest level of TPE management to seek a resolution thereof, and John Lamont MP undertook to discuss matters which lay within his remit.
“RAGES wish to express their thanks to John and Graham for their time to discuss and hopefully resolve issues at stations in their area served by TPE.”
