Time to derail Northern franchise says MP Tony
TONY Lloyd MP has called on the government to strip Northern Rail of its franchise following delays, cancellations and overcrowding.
The Rochdale representative has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, urging him to ‘abrogate the franchise’.
Posting on Twitter, Mr Lloyd said: “Rochdale residents are fed up of delays, cancellations and overcrowding on Northern trains. The Tories have allowed ticket prices to rise to record levels.”
Northern rail said improvements are still a ‘work in progress’ and that customer trust was improving following a half a billion pound investment into new trains.
Writing to the Conservative cabinet member, Mr Lloyd said some of his constituents had contacted him regarding their frustrations with the “significant disruption”.
He said: “With promised upgrades delayed, fares rising way ahead of wages, and numerous cancellations, it is disappointing but not surprising that their satisfaction remains low. “All arbitrary and late cancellations of services cause inconvenience and potential distress. Cancelling the services (from Liverpool) to Manchester Airport may well have caused people to miss flights for holidays or for work.”
A Northern spokesperson said they were working to improve their performance and reliability and had delivered two ‘successful’ timetable changes of late.
They added: “The unacceptable disruption following the May 2018 timetable change was caused by delays in infrastructure projects outside of our control. We have apologised to our customers for the pain this caused. The north is beginning to benefit from the half a billion pound investment in new trains with 18 now in service with the remainder to be introduced between now and early 2020.
“These improvements are still a work in progress – but we are making things better for our customers. We want and expect things to continue to improve.”
Chris Jackson, Northern’s regional director, told the Greater Manchester Transport Committee this week that service levels have stabilised and that “trust is slowly being rebuilt”.
However, Rochdale councillor Phil Burke said services had taken a step back in the borough, with trains cancelled ‘without notification’ and sporadic Sunday services.
He added: “Sometimes you’re leaving people stranded, and it’s unfair that people are being penalised because you can’t get staff to work on a Sunday.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently set out his aims to drive growth across the North by giving local leaders greater powers over their own railways and investing £3.6 billion in towns across England.
A DfT spokesperson added: “The government is investing heavily in transforming services in the North, and we have seen Northern begin to introduce new trains. The new Secretary of State has made it clear that he wants train punctuality to be the number one priority for passengers.”