When will Government act on rail?
I LIVE in Apperley Bridge and work in Leeds. Last week, it took me over an hour to arrive at work, a journey which usually takes around 15 minutes because the service didn’t have enough carriages and we were not allowed to board the train, despite buying a ticket for it.
Surely operator Northern should not be allowed to continuously charge for a service which is not up to scratch?
If you or I went to a restaurant and we were served our food 40 minutes late and it arrived cold, I am sure we would both feel well within our right to send this back or not pay as the service wasn’t up to scratch.
Does Northern surely not break the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which states that a product or service must be as described (which it is not) of satisfactory quality (of which it’s not) and fit for purpose (which it’s not)?
Not only is a continued late service on a weekday incredibly frustrating and has led to me looking foolish in my place of work by arriving late and flustered, but it has also impacted my personal life with their continued weekend strikes which I see have been prolonged into November.
This will now extend the strikes over three months which is ridiculous.
If I want to travel into Bradford or Leeds, I am having to alter my plans or take alternative transport home and a taxi from Leeds city centre can cost upwards of £20.
I have not been able to keep up to date with friends as I have to leave after just a few hours of meeting them. It also means that if I wish to attend a football game which starts at the regular 3pm kick off, I cannot make it back to the station on time to catch the last train home.
At what point will the government make a true intervention and either declare these strikes are unlawful – or provide a different service which can actually fulfill the needs of the people who elect them?
People talk about the Northern Powerhouse and, as a proud Yorkshireman, this is something I am desperate to see. I want to avoid a ‘brain drain’ to London and the SouthEast, but given the state of the transport network, the Northern Powerhouse is nothing more than a myth created by Westminster to placate people of the North.
The the network is not fit for purpose and this is a fact. It is single-handedly crippling the North of England.
Whilst I would love to do more business in Manchester and bring more money into the Yorkshire region, this is, quite frankly, impossible as I cannot guarantee that I will be able to punctually make meetings in the North-West.
Again, at what point will the Government intervene?