A train operator is leaving 150 passengers a day in the lurch by cutting their home-going train.

People heading from London Marylebone to the two stations at Sudbury and Harrow Road and Sudbury Hill Harrow now have a gap of 90 minutes between trains – from 16.43 to 18.13.

Chiltern Railways says it is cutting the stops out to improve the reliability of the service.

But, as the London Transport Users Committee reports, passengers wanting to alight at the two stations made up one third of the number of people on the train.

‘The long-standing joke has come true,’ said the LTUC. ‘Trains run better without passengers.’


Although LTUC is the official watchdog, Chiltern Railways has refused LTUC’s request to rescind the cuts or provide stops on alternative trains.

LTUC chairman Suzanne May said: ‘LTUC frequently calls for better timekeeping. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that the industry would seek to do it by reducing services.’

She said the committee would be taking the issue to the Strategic Rail Authority although so far it has shown ‘no interest in the matter’.