‘Commuters deserve better’ was the message from Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake.

The MP has commented on the state of the railways following an urgent question in parliament.

Earlier this month it was announced that struggling rail company Govia Thameslink (GTR) could be taken under the control of Transport for London (TFL).

GTR runs Southern and Thameslink trains which run through Croydon and Sutton. In May, the company introduced a new timetable which saw more than 5,000 disruptions in the first two weeks.

On Wednesday (July 18) Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald, asked the Department for Transport to update the House of Commons on the performance of the GTR franchise.

He asked: “What does this disgraceful company have to do to be stripped of its contact?”

In response, Transport Minister Jo Johnson said: “We will establish during the hard review whether GTR has been in breach of its contractual obligations. That process is underway.”

Speaking after the discussion, Mr Brake, who commutes from Sutton to parliament, called for transport secretary Chris Grayling to be step down.

He said: “Our railways are in crisis and the government’s blasé attitude isn’t helping anyone.

“Commuters deserve so much better than this. They’re shelling out thousands of pounds a year for a substandard service.

“It’s clearer than ever that GTR needs to be stripped of their contract, suburban services need to be handed over to the much more competent TFL and Chris Grayling needs to do the decent thing and depart without delay for his abysmal performance.”