Northern Trains Ltd

[507022]

RE: Northern Trains Ltd

(25/09/2020 06:55)St Helens Rider Wrote:  I maybe alone in this view but I think that over the last few years, the most reliable/stable Northern franchise was when it was run by Serco/Ned Rail, yes they had their fair share of issues but not on the scale we have seen over the last 4 years.

I agree with your comments, but also the last four years has coincided with the class 195 & 331s coming into service and Northern just didn’t have enough crews to cover the normal work as well as driver training the new units and route learning the Blackpool electrification/ remodelling. The same thing happened with TPE before their new trains came in. Unfortunately, with franchisees probably offering minimum costs to get the franchises which would mean minimum numbers of staff, something had to give when faced with the training required for the new trains.