Councillor Allen Brett urges Northern Rail to turn over a new leaf

Date published: 20/12/2006

Councillor Allen Brett has criticised a local train operator for providing a poor service during the autumn. Councillor Brett, Vice Chair and Rochdale spokesperson for Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, says Northern Rail has failed to meet a pledge to provide extra seats on rush-hour services.

The company made the commitment after announcing its intention to provide fewer services on the line between Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester from September to December. The train operator claims the service reduction is necessary due to leaves falling on the line.

Speaking at GMPTA's Transport Network Committee, Councillor Brett said: "Northern Rail has let passengers down and the explanation it's giving is so baffling that it may as well be in Latin!

"We were told yet again in August that the only way the train company could deal with leaves falling on the line would be to run fewer services during the autumn. It is hugely disappointing that this is its only solution to this age-old problem.

"However, the company promised us that it would provide extra seats on services, which run at peak times, to minimise the inconvenience to passengers. We now find that on some days less than half of rush-hour trains had extra seats during the autumn. This has meant that passengers have been crammed onto services.

"Northern Rail is blaming the age of its trains and is claiming that it doesn't have enough carriages. But the company has the same fleet now that it had when it promised to improve the service earlier this year, so this is nonsense!

"I'm extremely disappointed that Northern Rail has failed to live up to expectations and that it is now making unacceptable excuses. We will be keeping a close eye on this matter during next year. I hope that the train operator will do everything it can to meet its promises for Autumn 2007."

Northern Rail's autumn timetable on the Oldham and Rochdale line ran from Monday 11 September until Saturday 9 December. 42 fewer services ran on the line every day during the period.

A representative from Northern Rail accepted that there had been problems with the autumn service and agreed to work closely with GMPTE to develop a better plan for 2007.