Andy Burnham has said ‘enough is enough’ while calling for a formal investigation into Northern Rail.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester penned an open letter about the matter to Transport for the North (TfN), which this morning was shared on Twitter.
The document is a response to the delays, cancellations and severe overcrowding which has plagued commuters over recent months in Manchester.
Mr Burnham is now requesting a formal assessment into whether Northern is breaching its license to operate.
The letter reads: “I understand there are a number of underlying causes, not lease the delays to Network Rail’s electrification programme.
“However the recent pressures appear to be predominantly caused by staff shortages and many customers in Greater Manchester will not consider this to be an acceptable excuse.
“It is not unreasonable to believe that with better planning, or more investment in staff, Northern may have been able to mitigate some of the problems.”
I feel the performance of Northern Rail is now so poor that the time has come for an official investigation to establish whether it is breaching its license to operate. pic.twitter.com/1twJsjni61
— Mayor Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) May 16, 2018
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The growing discontent towards the rail service first escalated when fares rose by 3.4% in January this year.
Since then commuters have been particularly vocal about the conditions they’re subjected to on a daily basis – often during rush hour.
One man even shared the experience of how a woman almost collapsed after passengers were ‘packed like cattle’ on to a train.
The frustrated rail-user tweeted: “@northernassist services are terrible for the Manchester to Leeds line. Morning commute and your packed like cattle inside the trains.
“On one of my journeys, a standing woman collapsed and there literally wasn’t enough space where I was standing to put her in a recovery position.”
Mr Burnham was met with a wave of support when he declared ‘enough is enough’ to his near 250,000 followers on Twitter.
Sharing the letter, he wrote: “I feel the performance of Northern Rail is now so poor that the time has come for an official investigation to establish whether it is breaching its license to operate.”
