Rail firms in ‘last chance saloon’ with more delays
MAYOR’S WARNING AS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ONGOING PROBLEMS
LAST May’s rail chaos has continued right into 2019, new research has revealed, with up to eight out of 10 trains delayed in central Manchester last month.
Analysis by consumer magazine Which? found Greater Manchester passengers have been the hardest-hit over the last year of any major city it studied, including London.
More than two-thirds of trains in and out of the conurbation have been delayed in the past 12 months – and long after the timetable meltdown of last year, in January passengers here were still considerably more likely to be experiencing delays or cancellations than the national average.
People spoken to by the consumer rights group told of quitting their jobs and suffering both physical and mental health problems as a result of the ongoing disruption, said the consumer body.
Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham has now warned rail companies are in the ‘last chance saloon’ after years of problems on the railways.
The research by Which? reveals that despite ministers promising improvements to the region’s rail network following last May’s timetable meltdown, nearly eight out of ten trains coming in and out of Oxford Road were delayed last month.
In Wigan, one of the better performing stations in the conurbation, more than half of services were still delayed, while in Stockport the figure was 70pc.
Services were more unreliable than in London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Glasgow and Birmingham, all of which suffered major delays.