Latest news with #NorthernTrains
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Unclear when Northern's reduced Sunday rail service will end
A rail service says it is unclear when it will stop a reduced Sunday service it has been running since late last year. Northern has been running fewer services in north-west England every Sunday since 22 December 2024, because it has not been able to find enough conductors to work those firm's managing director Tricia Williams told a Transport for the North Meeting on Tuesday the reduced service was "not what we all want" but did offer customers "predictability".Northern said it was still negotiating with National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) over Sunday working. RMT confirmed discussions were ongoing. The firm has previously said the problem it faced on Sundays was it was contractually outside the working week for North West services include routes from Barrow and Windermere to Manchester Airport, and from Barrow to Williams said the reduced service currently relied on volunteers. "The success criteria for us is about achieving a truly seven-day railway," she said. She said the aim for the company was to ensure no more than 2% of services were being cancelled by the end of 2027 and that 90% of trains arrived within three minutes of said it was conducting "detailed discussions with Northern Trains to bring together working practices for conductors from three legacy companies into a single, modern agreement"."The talks aim to ensure consistency, reflect advances in technology, and support reliable services throughout the week", a spokesperson proposals would be subject to government approval, they follows Northern being issued a breach notice by the Department for Transport (DfT) in July 2024 for cancelling too many trains.
Metro
04-06-2025
- Business
- Metro
Train passengers fined 'too harshly' for 'innocent errors' with tickets
Train passengers are being punished for accidental 'minor transgressions' when buying tickets, the rail watchdog has said. With millions of people in the UK travelling by train every day, mistakes are bound to happen – whether that's selecting the wrong railcard or catching the wrong train. And the country's rail ticketing system, with various train operators and websites, can be confusing – and draconian. Now, the transport watchdog, the Office of Rail and Road, has said that train operators took disproportionately harsh measures against passengers who had made 'genuine errors.' The rules are so harsh that a passenger was threatened with prosecution for mistakenly selecting a 16-25 railcard discount when they had a 26-30 railcard. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Another person found out they had a criminal record when having a background check for a job, despite successfully appealing the penalty fare four years prior. One passenger had a printed e-ticket, but it was so water-damaged it could not be scanned by staff. Although they subsequently showed a proof of valid ticket for the journey, they were threatened with prosecution. The passenger ended up settling out of court for £81 to avoid the risk of conviction, which is 'a serious and potentially life changing matter,' the watchdog said. In a scathing new report reviewing train operators' revenue protection practices, the watchdog made recommendations on how buying the right ticket could be simpler and how passengers are treated when ticket issues arise. It comes after 59,000 alleged fare evasion convictions were overturned after train operators used a secretive legal loophole, the Single Justice Procedure, to fast-track prosecutions behind closed doors. After the procedural error by train operators was revealed, the Transport Secretary commissioned the watchdog to review revenue practices to make sure that 'fare evasion was being addressed, but in a way that was fair to passengers and in line with the correct procedures.' Sam Williamson, 22, was threatened with prosecution after he bought the wrong ticket using his 16-25 railcard on a journey in Manchester. In the end, Northern Trains backed down on the case, which could have left the graduate with a criminal record. The watchdog has made several recommendations after disgruntled passengers shared their experiences and after hearing from the rail industry, whose staff can face challenges 'with aggressive and abusive behaviour' when checking tickets. It can be difficult for staff to distinguish between innocent mistakes and deliberate fare dodging, the report said. Also, under railway laws, it is simply an offence not to present a valid ticket for a trip, regardless of the passenger's intent. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Meanwhile, train fare evaders continue to be captured – some of them red-handed like a 'short farer' at Waterloo who avoided paying £20,000 over three years by buying a ticket only for a part of his commute. Fare evasion and ticket revenue loss are on the rise, and it is 'becoming normalised among certain passenger groups,' the watchdog warned. The watchdog made five key recommendations on how the fare evasion system could improve, although they are unlikely to have any immediate impact on passengers. Even seasoned travellers can be caught out by different ticket types, validity, restrictions and peak/off-peak travel times. This is because the ticket retail systems are out of date. The watchdog called for plain English explanations of ticket details, and a redesign of ticketing systems. Train operators have used 'inconsistent' approaches and legal powers, which can lead to 'sometimes unfair or disproportionate outcomes.' Actions to address this include adopting more consistent practices when tickets are checked and escalated based on 'likely passenger intent.' Passengers can face very different practices depending on the train operator if prosecuted for a mistake, including the choice of law, legal procedure, use of third-party agents and out-of-court settlements. This is why the watchdog proposed a more consistent legal test for prosecutions based on public interest, and a wider review of revenue protection legislation in the future. Some people, like Sam, have been caught out by the small print in the ticket T&Cs, with conditions like travel being limited to a specific time only if using a railcard. This could be addressed by making T&C, penalty, prosecution and passenger rights information easier to find and understand. The way train operators enforce train ticket rules has 'proliferated over time,' while the legal framework is complex and used inconsistently depending on the company. The ORR called for a body or forum to identify and promote best practices on revenue protection. Rail Delivery Group, the body representing UK rail operators, said the industry will work to implement the recommendations. A spokesperson said: 'Fare evasion remains a significant challenge for the industry, costing the railway hundreds of millions of pounds each year. More Trending 'That's money that can't be used to improve services, which increases the burden on customers and taxpayers. 'So we need to strike the right balance addressing genuine, honest mistakes made by customers and taking firm action against those who deliberately and persistently seek to exploit the system.' It comes after South Western Railway was nationalised as part of the government's plan to cut delays for passengers. However, the change does not mean cheaper tickets as the focus is on that 'trains arrive on time, lower levels of cancellation and a better passenger experience,' Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Metro. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Rachel Reeves reveals £15,000,000,000 transport projects – here's what we know MORE: Motorcyclist seriously hurt after crash near London's Blackwall Tunnel MORE: Fare dodger barges his way through barriers – and straight into arms of police
Spectator
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Will renationalising the railways lead to a better service?
Domestics policy Brigitte Macron, wife of Emmanuel Macron, was seen to push him in the face as the doors to their plane opened on arrival for a visit to Vietnam. The French President claimed they were just joking. It will kindle memories of awkward moments between Donald Trump and his wife Melania, as well as the incident in June 2019 when police were called to the south London home of Boris Johnson's then-girlfriend Carrie Symonds after reports of a heated argument, apparently about wine being spilled on a sofa. – It is increasingly hard for politicians to keep their domestic disputes private. Harold Macmillan and his wife, Dorothy, got through three decades of public appearances without making it obvious to the public that they led separate lives on account of her affair with the Tory MP Robert Boothby. Red line South West Trains was renationalised. Will the return of franchises to the state result in a better service? Punctuality and reliability in Q4 2024 of franchises which are already in public ownership: % trains on time % trains cancelled 50.6 Northern Trains 8.0 62.5 Scotrail 2.7 57.5 Transport for Wales 7.6 Source: Office of Rail and Road Know your unions Who joins a trade union? – In 2024, 6.4m UK employees belonged to a union, 22% of all employees. This was down from 22.4% in 2023 and 32.4% in 1995. Union members in 2024 were made up of 2.7m men and 3.7m women. – The gap between male and female union membership is growing. Between 2023 and 2024 the number of male members fell by 172,000 while female members grew by 134,000. Some 2.5m union members work in the private sector, down 57,000 on the year, while 3.9m work in the public sector, up 20,000 on the year. 64% of union members have a degree or equivalent, compared with 53% of the working population as a whole.
The Sun
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Renationalising railways is plain loco… it will be the same old misery for passengers while handing more power to unions
ACCORDING to the Government, the renationalisation of South West Trains on Sunday morning marked a 'new dawn for rail'. It was a Sunday morning, however, which ended like so many do for rail passengers: With the first service soon grinding to a halt and passengers ordered out onto a rail replacement bus. 3 3 Does anyone other than avowed socialists really expect much to improve under the Government's renationalisation programme, which will involve most services in Britain over the next couple of years being branded under the name ' Great British Railways '? It may have escaped some passengers' notice, but train services in some parts of the country already have been renationalised. Local services in the North of England, for example, have been run by the Government under the name Northern Trains since 2020, after the Conservative government terminated the franchise held by Arriva. Services in Wales have been run by the Welsh government since 2021 and those in Scotland by the Scottish government since 2022. How is that experiment coming on? In the final three months of last year, Northern Trains had the fourth worst punctuality record of any operator, with just 50.6 per cent of trains arriving on time. It had the second worst figures for train cancellations, with eight per cent of trains not even making it out of the station. Next down the list was Transport for Wales, with 7.6 per cent cancelled. In Scotland, nationalisation by Nicola Sturgeon did absolutely nothing to improve labour relations, with almost constant strikes in the years since. There has been a distinct change in culture, with the whole network being closed down at the slightest hint of strong winds. Train drivers' strike causes rail travel chaos as many areas left with no services Nor have the renationalised railways proved to be less grasping when it comes to setting and collecting fares. I don't have much sympathy for genuine fare dodgers, but Sam Williamson was trying to do the right thing when he bought a £3.65 return to Manchester with a 16-24 railcard. No one who is old enough to remember British Rail will be fooled into thinking, as the Government and unions would have us believe, that nationalisation is a panacea for our awful rail service Northern's phone app was quite happy to sell him the ticket, but little did he know that deep down in the company's Byzantine rules was a clause saying that railcards can only be used before 10am if the original fare would have been £12 or more — although that rule doesn't apply in July and August. Got that? Williamson was pounced upon by a ticket inspector and was about to be dragged through the courts when, after a public outcry, the company realised that perhaps, after all, its ticketing rules are unreasonably complicated. No one who is old enough to remember British Rail will be fooled into thinking, as the Government and unions would have us believe, that nationalisation is a panacea for our awful rail service. At least the privatised rail companies seemed to want us to travel, luring us with cheap tickets and by opening new stations. I still remember British Rail's response when a rail service in Devon was reported to be dangerously overcrowded. Rather than find an extra carriage or two it scrapped the service altogether. It was British Rail's Chairman, Richard Beeching, lest anyone forget, who closed down half the rail system in the 1960s. Many other services were run down, reduced to a skeleton service. Trains were old and dirty and the catering a stock joke for comedians. 3 British Rail did have one big modernisation project — developing a tilting train which was supposed to run at speeds of up to 155 mph from London to Manchester and Glasgow, but that was scuppered in part by the unions who refused to drive it, demanding it should have two drivers. It is bizarre that the railway system, under privatisation, receives more subsidy than it did in British Rail's day It is true that privatisation never brought us all the benefits it was supposed to. The decision by John Major's government to grant monopolistic franchises allowed rail companies to bid up fares to ridiculous levels. The same companies found it easier, rather than take on the unions, to nod through fat pay rises and then go begging to the government for extra handouts. It is bizarre that the railway system, under privatisation, receives more subsidy than it did in British Rail's day. But none of this is going to be solved simply by taking the railways back into state ownership. The real purpose of nationalisation is to throw red meat to Labour's old faithful — those who never accepted Tony Blair's rewriting of the party's constitution to take out the clause demanding public ownership of the means of production. Labour's sacred cows While Blair was prepared to slay Labour's sacred cows and embrace a more entrepreneurial economy, Starmer is taking his party backwards into its 1940s comfort zone. He may preach 'growth, growth, growth', but has anyone seen a Labour policy in the past 11 months that is calculated to achieve that? Renationalisation of the railways certainly isn't going to do the job. Even transport secretary Heidi Alexander admits it isn't going to reduce fares. All it will mean is that the unions will be in charge of the railways even more than they are already. It will be more fat pay rises for their members as they take advantage of a pushover Labour government — and the same old misery for passengers.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘It carried hope, heartbreak and heroism': VE Day at Bury Transport Museum
A moving ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day was held at a museum in Bury this afternoon, Thursday. East Lancashire Railway (ELR) and Northern Trains hosted the hour-long event at Bury Transport Museum, opposite Bolton Street Station. It took place in front of the newly installed Lancashire and Yorkshire First World War Memorial as around 30 guests listened to emotive passages and prayers read by members of ELR and Northern Trains. Railway Mission Chaplain Mike Roberts introduced the ceremony, opening with prayers of reflection before wreaths were laid by the chairman of Bury Transport Museum, Keith Whitmore, Northern Trains technician and British Army reservist, Rob Brown and ELR chairman Mike Kelly. Mr Kelly recited wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famed speech, first delivered at the House of Commons in June 1940 before Northern's Tom Parker followed with Churchill's equally poignant Christmas Eve message sent from The Whitehouse in Washington D.C a year later. Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to the Bury Times morning newsletter as well as our breaking news alerts. Mr Whitmore then returned to the stand to share a monologue around the importance of the railway in the Second World War, including how it became "the backbone during those years". He said: 'It carried hope, heartbreak and heroism on its tracks…the railways carried out one of the largest and fastest evacuations in history. 'In just four days, nearly 4,000 special trains evacuated more than 1.3 million schoolchildren and vulnerable adults to safety, all over and above scheduled services. 'In 1939 alone, over 254 million tonnes of goods and 90 million parcels were carried by rail, keeping Britain supplied, connected and resilient. 'Today, we don't just honour those who served on the front line but those who served on the home front in control rooms, in engine sheds, in stations and on the tracks.' Messages from those who experienced the war first-hand were played over a speaker as some guests were visibly moved to tears. READ NEXT: School celebrates milestone anniversary with parade through town centre READ NEXT: 'I felt a whirlwind of emotions': Bury man's memories 80 years on from historic event Mr Brown then read out Churchill's May 8 House of Commons broadcast, Victory in Europe, before closing prayers were conducted by Chaplain Roberts and music was played. Bury West Cllr Jackie Harris was a guest at the event. Speaking to the Bury Times, she said: 'It's been an honour to be here and hear from the speakers today. 'We must never forget the sacrifices made by those before us, as people like Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn worked tirelessly to keep up morale. 'Thank you to everyone involved in the ceremony.' The wooden war memorial, which honours 117 men from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Carriage and Wagon Depot, who lost their lives during the First World War, was unveiled last month and is on permanent loan to the Bury Transport Museum. It was originally located at Newton Heath depot and was installed shortly after the war ended. Mr Whitmore added: 'We are absolutely delighted to again be working together with Northern on this very special day of national significance and in front of such an iconic memorial to remember the fallen. 'I am sure that in the future, remembrance events will bring the ELR and Northern closer and closer together to remember those in the rail industry who served their country so well and in so many cases made the ultimate sacrifice.'
