CLACTON’S MP has called on Network Rail to be made more accountable to passengers following “dreadful” delays for coastal commuters.

Douglas Carswell has written to transport minister Patrick McLoughlin to call for improvements on the Clacton and Walton lines to Colchester and London.

He said train services were unreliable and commuters suffer frequent disruptions, regularly finding Monday morning services cancelled.

Mr Carswell has called on the Government to spend a “fraction” of the billions of pounds intended for new high speed rail lines linking London to the north of the country on ensuring services on existing routes run on time.

“The minister visited Clacton during the recent by-election,” said Mr Carswell. “He was keen to make all sorts of promises then.

“I want to know what he is now going to do to ensure the dreadful kind of delays we had yet again on the line last week do not keep happening.

“A fundamental problem is Network Rail – the organisation responsible for maintaining the track – is not properly accountable.

“Things go wrong and the train operator, Abellio, delays or cancels services. But what happens to Network Rail? No-one in that organisation seems to be held to account.

“It is backed by billions of pounds of public money. I want to know how it is to be made accountable to the public.”

A Network Rail spokesman said: “We are working closely with Abellio Greater Anglia to take a number of actions to provide a more consistent service.

“Next year, we will continue to upgrade the Great Eastern Main Line, investing more than £170million to deliver a better service to passengers.”