Troubled firm Northern Rail has announced it’s reinstating 75% of trains previously cancelled under its new timetable.
It follows hundreds of delays and cancellations after the operator slashed nearly 170 services a day in June.
Northern blamed unforeseen delays to electrification projects that resulted in driver training issues, which meant a newer timetable had to be drawn up and delivered in less than half the usual time.
Today, the network will commence a phased reintroduction of services, which will see 75% brought back and the remaining 25% in September.
Northern’s managing director David Brown said: “The May timetable caused significant disruption for customers on some routes on our network and we’re truly sorry for that.
“We introduced an interim timetable on a number of routes from 4 June, and that has enabled us to accelerate our driver training, stabilise service levels, improve performance and significantly reduce last-minute cancellations.”
“Whilst we are ready to reintroduce all 168 daily services, given the need to drive further improvements across Manchester, we have agreed to a more gradual reintroduction of our services. A phased introduction is the right approach to ensure a more stable and reliable service for customers.”
What trains have been reintroduced?
– A full service on the Lakes Line of 35 trains a day following a partial reintroduction on July 2
– A full service from Blackpool to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly of 31 trains in total a day
– A full service from Lancaster to Morecambe with 24 trains a day reinstated
– A full service from Preston and Blackburn with four trains a day reinstated
– 17 daily (of 30 removed) trains between Blackpool South and Colne via Preston
– 10 services a day (of 16 removed) between Ormskirk and Preston
– Four daily (of 10 removed) trains on the Kirkby to Manchester Victoria line via Wigan
The remaining removed services which also include six daily Blackburn to Southport trains and 12 daily Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge trains, will be reinstated in September 2018.
For rail enquiries visit http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
