Cumbrian MPs call on Northern Trains to deliver recovery plan
A number of Labour MPs have commented on their "poor performance"
Cumbrian Labour MPs have called on Northern Trains to deliver an urgent recovery plan.
This comes after a meeting that addressed months of ‘poor performance’ on the Furness and Cumbria Coast Lines.
The meeting followed efforts by the local MPs to push the rail industry into action after the Bransty Tunnel closure in Whitehaven last July caused severe disruption.
In a joint statement, Michelle Scrogham MP (Barrow and Furness), Josh MacAlister MP (Workington and Whitehaven), Julie Minns MP (Carlisle) and Markus Campbell-Savours MP (Penrith and the Borders) said: “While we recognise Northern faces challenges due to the Bransty Tunnel closure, current action is not enough to address very poor performance.”
They continued: “This disruption is hitting our constituents hard. People are missing work, education, and training, businesses are losing customers, and some residents are considering moving house or changing jobs.
“We have asked Northern to provide a written action plan by the end of the month, detailing how they will improve the situation beyond current measures.”
They finished by saying: “The Labour Government is investing in, and reforming, rail services and it is vital that Cumbrian rail users see the benefits of that.
“The failures we see locally are result of privatisation, it has failed, and it is passengers that have paid the price.
“The new Railways Bill will put our rail system back together and back into public control and we will be supporting that so that passengers here will benefit.”
Pressure from the MPs did secure from some improvements such as timetabling changes, better replacement bus services and additional support at affected stations.
A spokesperson from Northern Trains said: “The Bransty Tunnel closure means we are having to run a revised service over two sections, rather than the whole route.”
They continued: “This created a number of issues which prevented us from running a reliable service, but we are working hard to address them.
“After reviewing feedback from customers, we have altered the timetable and timings of some rail replacement services.
“We have made changes to ensure Class 156 trains are again used to operate the majority of services.
“The tunnel closure had previously forced us to use different types of trains, which some members of train crew are not trained to operate.
“We have also postponed all non-essential training over the festive period, to ensure we have more staff available to run services.
“We are looking forward to the work at Bransty Tunnel being completed so we can restore train services along the full route.”