Railway boss faces calls to improve Portsmouth's stations

Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan has made the renewed call to improve the city's ageing facilities.

He met with Andy Mellors, managing director of South Western Railways at Portsmouth Harbour Station, which has previously been described as an eyesore.

As well as lobbying for additional cash for improvements to the stations, the Labour MP was also questioning Mr Mellors to find out what steps are being taken to improve travel times on the network.

The meeting between the pair comes as millions of commuters are set to face a 3.5 per cent rise in rail fares from January.

Mr Morgan said: '˜Our city's train stations are looking tired at a time we are working hard to strengthen our local economy and make Portsmouth an even better destination for visitors and business.

'I've urged the managing director to do all he can to invest in our train stations, and will keep the pressure on for South Western Railways to deliver for the people of Portsmouth.'

This year has already seen rail users hit with a rise of 3.6 per cent in fares.

Other topics of discussion at Mr Morgan's meeting included the speed of services between Portsmouth and London Waterloo, the introduction of new flexi-fares enabling different prices for different travel times and what is being done to boost stations.