Chelmsford commuters would rather work near home

10.40.00am GMT Sat 12th Dec 2009

Commuters making the daily train trip from Chelmsford to London would rather work nearer home, even if that means taking a pay cut. That was the conclusion of research undertaken by Stephen Robinson and Chelmsford Liberal Democrats.

Commented Stephen Robinson (Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Chelmsford): "Talking to regular commuters in Chelmsford, it is clear that most of the them would rather work in Chelmsford, if there were more jobs available locally. Even though that would mean taking a cut in salary, commuters would still prefer not to have to commute.

"It's not hard so see why. Commuting is time consuming and often uncomfortable. Over a third of the commuters we heard from said they rarely got a seat on their daily commute.

"In terms of punctuality, nearly half of commuters thought the service provided by National Express was the same as a year ago. However, nearly 40% of respondents said they thought that train delays were worse now compared with a year ago.

"I am taking these issues forward with National Express and I am looking for ways in which commuting can be made more pleasurable for commuters.

"However, there is a broader message here about the need to create more jobs locally. Liberal Democrats have long argued that local jobs for local people is vital to increase people's quality of life. As an obvious bonus, Chelmsford's local economy will be boosted with more people around to support local businesses during the day."

SURVEY

If you have not yet filled out the survey yourself, you can do so here:

http://survey.libdems.org.uk/take/548

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