Trains boss faces quiz

HENLEY MP John Howell is to organise a public meeting to discuss problems on the Henley branch line.

Mark Hopwood, managing director of Great Western Railway, has agreed to attend the meeting to answer questions about issues such as congestion at peak times, punctuality and cancellations.

There will also be discussion about the decision to scrap direct trains from Henley to London Paddington at the start of this year.

Mr Howell, who will chair the meeting, said: “Put simply, the service is just not working well.

“There seems to have been unplanned disruptions due to a large number of operational issues.

“I hope that GWR’s desire for good communications will mean that we can have an open and robust meeting on all these issues.

“After a previous meeting in Henley I helped set up a branch line rail users group to tackle issues such as this.”