Govt must freeze fares and sort out rail fiasco

Commenting as chaos intensifies at Paddington station, former Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:

The chaos on the railway at Paddington station once again shows the urgent need for the Government’s rail review. It’s hard to believe that testing a new train was allowed to happen on the busiest part of the network in the middle of the working week, surely this could be better thought-out.

If Paddington Bear had arrived today, he wouldn’t have been greeted by a new family, but crowds of frustrated people awaiting a rail replacement bus service.

We need an urgent freeze on fares while Government sorts this fiasco, a proper automatic compensation scheme and assurances there are enough marmalade sandwiches to placate understandably angry commuters.