Northern Rail: Andy Burnham calls for temporary fare cut
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Stephen Noble, Tom Bitcliffe, Kieran Trafford
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called for a temporary fare cut on rail routes affected by an interim timetable.
Northern has aborted about 2,000 services since new timetables started on 20 May, with more than 200 cancelled or heavily delayed on Friday.
The operator has now introduced a temporary timetable that removes 165 daily services until 29 July.
Mr Burnham said Northern tickets should also be accepted by other operators.
"Many Northern passengers are already significantly out of pocket following recent disruption," the mayor said.
"Now, people who have bought advance or season tickets valid in the next two months face receiving a lower level of service than was being offered when they bought those tickets."
Areas affected include Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and the Lake District line between Oxenholme and Windermere.
Commuters were still complaining of problems on Monday despite the reduced timetable, with one saying: "Even the emergency schedule is a struggle for you" and another spoke of Northern's "ineptness".
Northern's managing director David Brown has apologised for the disruption, saying "the interim plan will help ensure we start to get back on track".
The temporary timetable removes 6% of the operator's total services until a full timetable is expected to resume at the end of July.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said government-owned Network Rail, which manages the infrastructure, was "far too late in finalising planned timetable changes and this must not happen again".
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The RMT rail union's general secretary Mick Cash said the minister should "get out" and his members were facing public anger "without a shred of support" from Mr Grayling or Northern's management.
Wigan MP Lisa Nandy said the transport secretary was due to meet with MPs whose constituents are affected on Monday.
Mr Burnham has repeated his calls for a "substantial offer of compensation for those with advance or season tickets".
"In my view, if the new May timetable is not fully operational by early August, proceedings should be initiated to remove the franchise," he added.
"As far as I am concerned, this emergency timetable represents the 'last chance saloon' for Northern."
Britain's rail timetable is updated twice a year but May's update included more changes than normal in an attempt to improve punctuality and account for extra services and capacity following billions of pounds of investment.
The timing of all Govia Thameslink Railway and most Northern trains was changed, but all new journeys had to be individually approved by Network Rail.
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