West Lancashire MP has called on the Prime
Minister to end the misery of thousands of rail passengers across
the north, and take the franchise off
Northern.
MP Rosie used her slot on Wednesday when she
opened Prime Minister’s Questions by challenging to intervene and resolve the
rail issues commuters have had to endure for most of
2018.
Northern have operated less than two-thirds of
their routes in the period 21 May to 24
November.
Residents have written to
Rosie about their terrible experiences such as being left stranded on
platforms due to the last train of the night being cancelled,
losing their jobs due to being late for work and parents not
seeing their children because of the additional commute
times.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister was not entirely
convincing that things will change, pointing to a review by
Richard George which is being undertaken, but did state
“where operators are found to be at fault, we will
take action.”
“I have been deluged with reports from residents
about poor service, no service and no refunds for much of
2018.
“If Northern are only operating to a two-thirds
capacity, then I believe passengers should not be forced
to pay full price for their tickets.
“I don’t believe that many politicians including
the Transport Secretary and the Prime
Minister realise how bad the situation is here in the North.
“Northern have a government rail franchise and are
simply not delivering and causing misery for commuters and
their families through their deplorable
service.
“We had Monday Meltdown in May, but for my West Lancashire constituents there
has not been an improvement as they’re forced on to rail
replacement buses, miss trains due to overcrowding, and being
left stranded on station platforms.
“There is a duty to provide a rail service fit for
the needs of passengers, passengers who pay their taxes and pay
their fares but seemingly get nothing in
return.
“It is time for the Prime Minister to step in
and end the Northern franchise and fix this mess.”
