West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has met with the managing director of the award-winning Chiltern Railways, to get tips on delivering a successful rail service. Many county residents travel to London and the south east along the Chiltern Line, using Oxford and Warwick Parkway stations rather than choosing the longer Great Western route. Harriett requested a meeting with Dave Penney to find out how the Chiltern Line manages its franchise and achieves outstanding customer satisfaction ratings from commuters. Worcester is currently building its own parkway station on the outskirts of the city and Harriett is keen to work with the Department for Transport, rail operators and other bodies to ensure that the best possible services are offered to local rail users. Harriett commented: “The Chiltern Line has an impressive reputation for good value, reliability and customer satisfaction and many constituents remark to me that we would do well to learn and share lessons from this company. “I was delighted to meet with Dave Penney to chat through the challenges of running stations like Oxford and Warwick Parkway along his successful Chiltern Line and he was good enough to share some ideas that I would like to investigate further. “Worcestershire Parkway will be an important new resource for local commuters and it is essential that we start off on the right foot. It is also crucial that we help the current operator of trains to London to benchmark its performance against a similar provider and ensure that we get faster, more frequent and more reliable services between Worcestershire and the capital.” Chiltern Railways managing director Dave Penney added: “We are proud of the success of the Chiltern service, that provides frequent, reliable and quality train services from our Oxford and Warwick Parkway stations with easy road access and spacious car parking. “I am delighted to share Chiltern Railways’ recipe for success with Harriett and I hope this will help make Worcestershire Parkway a success too.” Photo: Harriett Baldwin MP meets with Chiltern Railways MD Dave Penney.