Cllr Samantha Dixon, leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, has announced her backing for a statement released today by John Cridland, Transport for the North’s chairman.
Cllr Dixon said: “As a member of the Transport for the North partnership board, I fully support today’s statement from John Cridland, chairman of Transport for the North about Northern’s rail service.
“The Mid Cheshire line provides essential links between Chester, Northwich, Stockport and Manchester. It is disappointing that passengers have been facing train cancellations combined with unsatisfactory and accurate information for them to plan their business and travel.
“Northern must step up its measures to deliver services that our communities, businesses and visitors expect to enjoy.
“Along with other members of Transport for the North, I will be paying very close attention to Northern’s performance over the coming days and weeks.”
John Cridland said: “We stand firmly with passengers across the North – they expect and deserve better.
“The patience of residents, businesses and visitors in the North has been tested. They have been inconvenienced and disrupted and need a rail service that they can rely on.”
In his statement he said that, as the voice of the Northern civic and business leaders, he is calling for Northern to:
- Ensure any services in total are at least as good as they were before the introduction of the new timetable on 20th May 2018
- Provide clear communication to customers so that they can plan with confidence
- Compensate passengers who have bought advance or season tickets for the next two months, given the reduced level of service
- Reduce the cost of journeys for customers experiencing disruption
- Arrange for their tickets to be accepted on other rail operators and modes of transport, to provide passengers with an alternative route
- Engage businesses and northern leaders on any future changes that may impact passengers
He added: “We are deeply disappointed that – two weeks in from the timetable change – we are not yet seeing more improvement. We will scrutinise, challenge and track services over the coming days.
“We, as a group, commit to communities in the North to speak on their behalf and demand a service that is fit for purpose.”
