THIS is an email I have sent to Northern Rail.

Thanks for your email regarding my journey from Bolton to Manchester Airport.

Apologies, explanations and awareness are appreciated but do not resolve the issue of overcrowding, lack of rolling stock, insufficient infrastructure investment and the overwhelming impossibility of adequate management.

This evening's national news has been dominated by the crushingly devastating affairs within Northern Rail and would gain zero by being rehearsed here.

But surely we/you cannot go on in this way with our rapidly deteriorating public transport system causing misery, loss of employment, lost appointments and even a spoiling of family and relationships. Many are paying a high price and they and the thousands of others affected by the chaos want to know about the future plans that you, your colleagues, Northern Rail, the Government and Manchester Council are putting into place to bring order and rehabilitation to this current situation.

We all want some realistic honesty. Simple really. But then squeezing a quart from a pint maybe quantified as ‘mission impossible’ and thus far from simple.

Please don’t reply to this email; am sure you’ve better things to do.

John Ramwell