An MP has joined Labour Party representatives for a protest against Bolton’s railway services.

Yasmin Qureshi met with council leader Linda Thomas, and councillors Jean Gillies and David Chadwick outside of Bolton Train Station last Monday as part of the party’s protests against “Tory Rail Mayhem”.

Bolton South East MP, Ms Qureshi, said: “We organised it because I think it’s important to continue to highlight the rubbish train system in the North and specifically in Bolton.“The government has talked about electrification and the secretary of state has spoken in the past about more investment but we need to see that. We need frequent services, safe services, clean services and also more efficient systems.”

Cllr Gillies added: “My concern is that come Autumn it’s going to be even worse for commuters. It’s just getting ridiculous, people are worried about getting to the airport, getting to work and getting to school. Barely any trains are even stopping in Farnworth now. Transport links are crucial for people’s jobs and their livelihood and when you look at what other countries are doing I think we need to do more.”

It comes as transport secretary Chris Grayling is expected to apologise tonight, on the BBC’s Inside Out programme.

He will say: “Every single train in the North of England is either being replaced with a brand new train or a completely refurbished train. All the old pacer trains are going to the scrapyard. So yes, I am really sorry for disruption this summer, I am not sorry that we are doing a big programme of investment in the North.”