Northern's service improvements 'could take years'

Plans submitted by an under-fire rail operator to improve services by 2027 have been described by regional politicians as "vague" and "still not good enough".

Northern, which runs trains in the north of England, said it aimed to have 90% of trains run on time and only 2% of services cancelled in the next three years.

Northern bosses told a Transport for the North meeting they hoped to boost driver and conductor availability through new deals with staff over working arrangements.

But regional leaders like the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said the plan lacked the "interim milestones we need to hold you to account".

Part of Northern's plan included boosting staff availability on Sundays, when services were consistently disrupted as the day falls outside contracted working hours.

The firm has offered conductors a new deal to work on Sundays, which the RMT union said it would consult its members on.

Tricia Williams, managing director of Northern, told the Transport for the North rail committee this was an "interim" measure that, if agreed upon, would last four months while a longer term deal that addresses wider issues is worked on.

Northern's plan also referenced reducing crew sickness, tackling a training backlog and increased maintenance of an 'ageing fleet'.

But efforts to cut cancellations and improve punctuality were expected to take 36 months, which Mr Burnham said was "three years away".

"It's the most honest update we have had, but it doesn't make it any easier to hear," he said.

Northern had been ordered to urgently devise an improvement plan after an emergency meeting in October over poor performance.

Passengers told the BBC the service was "rubbish" after more than 1,000 trains were cancelled over the recent half-term.

The Transport for North committee, which included the mayors of South Yorkshire and the Liverpool city region, also quizzed the firm over non-transferable tickets.

City of York councillor Peter Kilbane said it was an "absolute nonsense that you have to buy a ticket and be wary of what train you get on".

"We're thinking of putting courses on in York about how to buy the right train ticket," he told the committee.

Mr Burnham who chaired the meeting, called on Northern to do more with other operators to improve transferable tickets.

"If your Northern train is cancelled you should be able to get on an other," he said.

Representatives of the firm promised to look into the matter and to come back with detailed milestones for their improvement plan.

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