Travellers will quit unless rail improves

MORE than 40% of North East passengers could quit trains for other forms of transport if the industry does not get its act together, according to a survey.

The Chronicle quizzed 2,871 of the region’s commuters about their recent travel experiences and their replies make worrying reading for rail bosses.

In the research, carried out using Google Consumer Surveys, we asked to what extent do you agree with the statement: ‘If rail services remain as unreliable as they have been since timetable changes, I will have to find another way to travel.’ A massive 41% agreed while just 19% disagreed.

The survey follows a spate of long delays, cancelled services and a lack of seats and carriages which affected thousands of rail commuters over the last two months due to timetable changes, with Northern rail getting the most flak in this region.

In our research, 27% of those who responded said in the last two months a train they were waiting for was delayed by more than 10 minutes. In the same two-month time frame, 24% had boarded a train to find no seats available, 14% had a train cancelled and 8% had experienced a bus replacement of their rail service.

There was a strong Northern Powerhouse sentiment to the responses as 54% agreed with the statement that the railway system would be better if it was run by authorities in the North and only 17% disagreed.

When asked if they thought the government should prioritise major rail projects in the North over those in the South East and London, 47% agreed and 18% disagreed.

And the major parties should take note that when asked if the government should commit to spending as much per head of population on railways in the North as the South, a huge 72% agreed compared to 13% who disagreed.

As for who was to blame for the recent problems in train services in the North, not surprisingly Northern Rail carried the can according to 47% of respondents.

However Transport Secretary Chris Grayling will be feeling a little uneasy about his 33% polling while 20% blamed Prime Minister Theresa May. Meanwhile, Northern is commissioning an independent report into what went wrong. They have claimed they did not know disaster was looming on their network until two days before a new timetable threw services into chaos.