Northern set for more Sunday cancellations
SUNDAY cancellations on Northern services are likely to last ‘at least to the end of the month’ – and mayor Andy Burnham is now demanding the transport secretary freezes rail fares.
The unwelcome news that Sunday disruption is set to continue comes as passengers recover from three consecutive Sundays of cancellations. Around 80 services were affected last weekend, with more than 50 services travelling in and out of Greater Manchester running on an amended timetable.
Among those hit were travellers heading to Manchester Airport for their summer holiday. Bosses said some train crews ‘made themselves unavailable to work.’
Now the M.E.N. understands that these problems are likely to continue at least ‘until the end of August.’
The problem is understood to revolve around a policy that staff don’t have to work Sundays, exacerbated by last-minute rosters as a result of delays to engineering work.
It follows months of services blighted by cancellations and delays, blamed by Northern on Network Rail delays which led to travel disaster when a new timetable was introduced in May. The problems also disrupted TransPennine services.
Now the mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool have written to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling demanding a freeze on Northern and TransPennine rail fares – which are due to go up in 2019.
Traditionally future rail fare increases are set using the July rate of RPI, which is published in August and comes in to effect the subsequent January. It’s estimated this could add an average of £45 for an annual season ticket on commuter lines from Altrincham, Stockport, Glossop, East Didsbury, Rochdale and Ashton-under-Lyne.
In their letter to Mr Grayling, mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram say: “Over the past few months travelling by train in the North has become a lottery, where passengers turn up at stations with no idea if there will be a train or whether they will arrive at their destination on time.
“This crisis has caused real damage to the north – the current estimate is that at least £38m has been lost from the economy – and has led to many commuters turning their backs on using the train and seeking other means of getting around.” They said a fare freeze was proportionate compensation and could attract passengers back to the railways. Mr Burnham added: “The secretary of state has a chance to show people in the north that he is listening to their concerns and is ready to do the right thing. I hope that he takes it and works with us to support passengers who have already had to put up with far too much.” Paul Plummer, Rail Delivery Group chief executive, said: “We can’t speculate ahead of Wednesday’s publication of the RPI inflation figure, which government has decided determines the increase in season tickets, in line with other day-to-day prices. Of every pound spent on train fares, 98p is invested back into the railway, helping to underpin a once-in-a-generation investment to change and improve for the benefit of our customers and the UK economy.”
A Northern Rail spokesman said they couldn’t speculate on the publication of the RPI inflation figure but that 98p of every pound spent on train fares was invested back into the railways. He added: “Price increases enable us to fund significant investments in improving train services across the Northern network.”
He said passengers would benefit from £500m investment in 98 new trains now under construction and 243 refurbished trains, while Pacers would be retired.
A TransPennine Express spokeswoman declined to comment.