Northern (Arriva Rail North)

[Brickmill]

RE: Northern (Arriva Rail North)

(28/11/2018 11:20)wirralbus Wrote:  It now seems like this is a battle of wills now between Union and Management .

One thing is for certain will the passengers that have deserted Northern at the weekends ever come back especially the ones in the Merseyside and Manchester areas where there may be alternative local bus services .

Can't speak for Merseyside, but I doubt the Strikes have made *that* much difference in GM. Obviously, the Media have played it up- like all Rail stories (DDA double-standards today) - but the fact is virtually nobody HAS to rely on Rail to get about, so to quote a song (title escapes me); "Its not the end of the World...its just a slight change of plan".
On the one hand, where subsidised Rail competes head on with commercial bus, off-peak rail fares are invariably cheaper than bus. OTOH, Irrelevant of Strikes, ARN (and Abellio before them) have had appalling punctuality on Saturdays for years - and if its not operational problems its endless engineering works/line incursions etc.