SIR David Crausby has been granted a debate in parliament on the ongoing Northern train chaos.
Commuters have been hit with heavy train delays again this morning and things are only expected to get worse this week with two strikes planned.
The Bolton North East MP called the service "unacceptably poor" and said government ministers "cannot keep ignoring the problems".
Issues began yesterday when changes to Northern's train timetables led to chaos across the north west, with many passengers arriving at Bolton stations to find that services had been cancelled or delayed indefinitely.
In response to the issues, Sir David said: "If they know they can't deliver the timetable why is there no plan to minimize disruption, inform people of cancellations and help them get to work rather than cancel trains day after day with no notice?"
Absolute farce, cancellations. Why? I have the timetable printed out and have had it for weeks. So why cancellations? Your excuses are complete BS! Ridiculous. #NorthernFail @northernassist @AndyBurnhamGM
— Gayle Spilman (@Gayle_K) May 22, 2018
@northernassist what’s up with your trains being constantly delayed and cancelled even when there’s a new timetable introduced?? Definitely a #NorthernFail #bloodymess
— Louis James (@Loujames10) May 22, 2018
Hi Seamus. More train nonsense today. First train - cancelled. I was lucky to get the next train. Three carriages, stil room after we all boarded. However, they announced it wouldn't stop at Kearsley so we sailed straight past the waiting commuters at that station. 1/2
— A Darren Riley Train (@riley_train) May 22, 2018
The company has defended itself, with a spokesman claiming that staff were doing "everything we can to ensure we minimise any service disruption and keep customers informed as quickly as we can through our website and social media."
They added: "The May 2018 timetable change, which went live today for commuters, has seen around 90% of our services change and an extra 1,300 train services a week introduced across our network, the biggest change to local rail for many years. This remains a significant operational challenge and we continue to expect some localised service disruption, which could happen at very short-notice.
"Northern customers are urged to check their train times before they travel at National Rail Enquiries or on our website, and on twitter at @northernassist, where we will post notification of known disruption as soon as we can."
Hello there, sadly we are still working on the timetables for Saturday's RMT strike, we will upload them as soon as we can. You will be able to find them here https://t.co/On1NXv9Uj5 ^VR
— Northern (@northernassist) May 22, 2018
The problems come as the operator has warned that only 40pc of services could run during two days of strike action this week.
Northern customers were already hit by action earlier in the month when members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) boycotted services.
However, ongoing disputes around the use of driver-only operated trains have led to the organisation announcing more strikes on Thursday, May 24, and Saturday, May 26.
In response to the plans, Richard Allan, Northern’s deputy manager director, said: “It is disappointing that RMT has chosen to target its strike action during the week of the bank holiday weekend, the first week of the new timetable and several events to commemorate the first anniversary of the Manchester attack.
“We are still prepared to guarantee jobs and pay reviews for conductors until the end of our franchise in 2025, with the government guaranteeing jobs beyond that, but both guarantees depend on the RMT ending its strike action.
“We urge the RMT to move away from its nationally coordinated strikes and allow its local representatives to engage in meaningful discussions with us on how we better serve customers on-board our new and refurbished trains.”
Announcing the industrial action, RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Northern Rail want to run half a million trains a year without a safety critical guard on board in a move that would wreck both safety and access to services and they should listen to their front-line staff and pull back from that plan immediately.”
Problems are further compounded by ongoing staff shortages caused by driver training and disputes over working on rest days.
HAVE YOU BEEN AFFECTED BY TRAINS DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS TODAY? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter or email seamus.mcdonnell@nqnw.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel