Arriva should never have won franchise

From: Steven Charlesworth, Barnsley.

RAIL operator Northern’s managing director David Brown is a disgrace.

He is quoted in The Yorkshire Post, earlier this month, as saying “lower than expected economic growth has had a significant effect on the revenue expected in our original franchise business plan agreed with government back in 2015”.

The fact is that he has had several email interactions with myself over the last few years where I have been complaining (without success) about the hordes of people getting on and off the Sheffield to Huddersfield service without any tickets being issued or checked on a daily basis.

Mr Brown has dismissed my complaints and continues to put my fares up each year (12 per cent for my unregulated fare this year) to cover his lack of management ability and complete contempt to protect my fare from passengers who do not pay.

Arriva should never have been awarded this franchise in the first place. They were an appalling provider during the early Noughties and we had no end of problems with them. Evidently, they haven’t changed!

From: Bob Watson, Baildon.

NORTHERN is to be commended (for a change) for running services on Boxing Day from Bradford Forster Square to Ilkley and Skipton.

Indeed, if our experience is anything to go by, then the numbers carried more than justifies a significant

expansion of such services on Boxing Day.

For far too long there have been no rail services on this day in these parts, and one has to hope that a proper service will now become the norm in future years. The demand is surely there.

From: Jarvis Browning, Fadmoor, York.

PART of the problem the Network Rail has is the lack of alternative routes to keep going, when upgrading lines, as they have been ripped up by Dr Beeching.

Had this not happened, we would still be able to get about. With limited routes, no wonder they have to close lines completely at the Christmas period when services are most needed.