Summer timetable | Snow | Timetable delay | Fares Jungle | Strikes | Carillion update

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New History feature: Cale Green Farm and Park. Comments welcome

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Bus timetable changes on 309/310, 374 and 378 from 7 April: See the TfGM website

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Wrong sort of weather?

The line to Blackpool North re-opened, with much publicity, on 16 April after being closed for some weeks while Network Rail tried to finish the signalling updates and electrification work.  However, only a limited service was running, and work was continuing overnight for the rest of the week, with the consequence that passengers faced an 'over-running engineering work' situation on the morning of 19 April. This severely affected our service, with several cancellations of the Preston - Hazel Grove service. On arrival at Manchester the 12:40 to Preston became overwhelmed by passengers, many with luggage, who were forced to wait in the hot 2-car train for 15 minutes before it was able to leave for Preston.

This situation was improving by mid-afternoon, but then just before the evening peak a 'points failure' occurred (due to heat perhaps?) near Oxford Road station, leading to horrible delays on our line. Arrivals at Davenport from Manchester were as follows:

        Due         Arrived

        16:39        17:25
        17:03        17:52
        17:15        17:34
        17:41        17:49
        18:06        18:17
        18:40        19:12
        19:41         Cancelled.

We should mention that under Northern's Delay and Repay scheme, anyone delayed more than 30 minutes is entitled to 'Compensation of one single ticket to anywhere on the Northern network. Or 50% of the cost of your single ticket or relevant portion of your return ticket.' You can apply online via the above link.

21 April 2018

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The 2018 Summer Timetable

(Download this item as a PDF)

Northern have now issued their timetable applicable from 20 May 2018 ... well, at least they have put the times online via the online journey planner. The printed and PDF timetables will not be available for some weeks, and the printed version will only be available in limited quantities in future as Northern claim a PDF saved on your phone is just as easy to use.

Our response to the publication of the May 2018 Northern timetable, on behalf of Davenport passengers, is one of considerable disappointment. What we have is basically the 'consultation' timetable issued months ago, with the one concession that stops at Davenport and Woodsmoor are provided on most, but not all, services, at least enabling travel to stations beyond Hazel Grove. The proposed extra service to New Mills Newtown is replaced by a service to Buxton, and there are more services late in the evening.

The result is that we have three trains per hour to and from Manchester for most of the day Monday to Friday, and two per hour to Manchester on Sundays. An improvement perhaps, but on closer study of the timings it seems less useful.  The following points become clear on comparison with timetables of recent years:

• There are no additional services at weekday peak times, except a new, very early, service at 06:15 which some may appreciate. In fact there are fewer services in the main part of the peak than in the off-peak, due to the fact that the 07:36 Buxton to Manchester and the 17:11 Manchester to Buxton do not call at Davenport and Woodsmoor. Notably, we have no departures to Manchester between 07:40 and 08:25.  In addition to inconveniencing travellers to Manchester, this also ignores the needs of those from towns beyond Hazel Grove who work, attend school, or visit hospital, at - Davenport and Woodsmoor. We urgently request that stops are provided on these services, which would not affect any other parts of the network.
  

• There are no longer any through services to points beyond Manchester Piccadilly, except one departure at 08:40 which runs to Manchester Victoria via Deansgate and arrives at Manchester too late to be of use for many commuters; it is clearly included as a convenient way for the operator to send a train to Newton Heath depot for servicing. This change is a major setback for many passengers: commuters to education facilities in Manchester, Salford and Bolton who, in some cases, have chosen to make their home here because of these through services, will suffer as well as many off-peak travellers to the Palace Theatre, Bridgewater Hall, etc. This is a significant reduction in the service provided at Davenport. The fastest time from Davenport to Salford Crescent,  at Piccadilly via the busy footbridge to platform 14, will be 46 minutes, compared with 31 minutes direct by the current service. There will be a convenient cross-platform change at Stockport from the xx:15 train to an East Midlands train which calls at Oxford Road, but no viable connection from Stockport to Deansgate or Salford Crescent.

• The interval between the three weekday services per hour is irregular, especially in the Manchester direction at xx:15, xx:25 and xx:40. The xx.25 service is an electric train starting from Hazel Grove, and using the 'fast line' from Stockport which has no platforms at Heaton Chapel or Levenshulme; this gives an arrival in Piccadilly just four minutes after the xx.15 service. Effectively there are just two useful trains per hour to Manchester, no improvement over the current timetable. Return services are more evenly spaced, but oddly, there is a later train from Manchester on Mondays to Fridays than on Saturdays.
  

Sunday services offer two trains per hour to Manchester at reasonable intervals, but only one per hour beyond Hazel Grove to Buxton for visitors to the Peak District. As now, trains stop at Middlewood only every two hours on Sundays (as on weekdays), despite the station's value to users of the Middlewood Way walking and cycling trail. All trains terminate at Piccadilly; the current services to Southport will no longer run.

The overall feeling that Davenport and Woodsmoor are not to participate in the great improvements promised by Northern, despite all our campaigning over the last few months which emphasised all the above points. We accept that some (perhaps all) of the problems are not of Northern's making, but the recently-announced delay to the Bolton electrification cannot be the cause of the above issues, as the Buxton line plan as published was made well before this was announced. Station users are encouraged to contact their local representatives with a view to (at least) inspiring improvements in future timetables.

Nor are we likely to see new trains on the Buxton line: second- , third-, and possibly fourth-hand Class 150 diesel units will remain in service for the foreseeable future, with refurbished interiors but still with the narrow and cramped seating we have suffered for 30 years. Disabled passengers will benefit from the new toilets and information displays, but Davenport station is inaccessible by disabled passengers and likely to remain so.

10 April 2018

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Strike news

RMT Unions have called two more strikes for Monday 26 and Thursday 29 March. A modified train service will run on our line until early evening: Northern's website has timetables. A curious feature of the strike timetable is that all trains to and from Buxton call at Middlewood, rather than alternate trains on a normal day. Better opportunities for a walk or cycle on the Middlewood Way, perhaps.

23 March 2018

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Snow - in retrospect

There were no trains running between Hazel Grove and Buxton for two days, Sunday 18 March and Monday 19 March, due to snowfall combined with strong winds which led to drifting snow building up on exposed parts of the track.  It's most unusual to have such a severe disruption, so what happened? We can piece together the story from various reports; it should be understood that the Northern Railway company, or the freight train companies, had no ability to do anything about it; state-owned Network Rail is responsible for the track. It's also a fact that the summit between Dove Holes and Buxton is one of the highest on a passenger line in England at well over 1000 feet above sea level.

The snow fell overnight Saturday - Sunday, accompanied by a hard frost, and by Sunday morning it was clear that no trains could run, even if staff living in the Buxton area could reach the station to drive them. Frozen points were, we believe, also a problem. Network Rail's snowplough train was clearly required, but the snowplough wagons which were once kept at Buxton are long gone. Trains were able to run between Manchester and Hazel Grove, in a limited manner as some rolling stock and staff were trapped at Buxton.

It was Monday morning before the snowplough train, worked by Class 56 locomotives from Colas Rail, made its way from Crewe and headed up the line from Stockport to Buxton.  (See this video).



Unfortunately, but this time, due partly to lack of passing trains, the icicles which can form in these conditions inside Eaves Tunnel (between Chapel and Dove Holes) had grown to giant proportions and struck the front of the leading locomotive, causing window and roof damage. Plans to run trains from 13:00 had to be abandoned, even though it was fine and sunny in Davenport.  Eventually, after much work by Network Rail staff, the line opened as normal on Tuesday.

It's easy to say that 'back in the day' things would have been handled differently, but we are now dealing with a railway fragmented into dozens of companies, and for economic reasons there is no longer a Buxton train depot, or a Buxton Area Manager who at one time could have arranged for a freight locomotive to shuttle back and forth all night to keep the line clear. Snow is far less common than it was, which makes it less economic to maintain the sort of equipment found on railways in Alpine countries.

23 March 2018

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Steam train

A steam-hauled special train from Carnforth to Hindlow passed through Davenport in the morning and evening of Saturday 17 March. The timings were:

The train is being routed through Manchester Victoria then Guide Bridge and Denton (for a water stop), then via Heaton Norris Jct into Stockport. The route and timings are here: 1Z56 Preston 0625, Wigan NW 0648, Eccles 0715, Man Vic 0729, Denton 0755-0843, Stockport 0856, Hazel Grove 0904, Chinley 0921, Peak Forest 0939, Buxton 0959. Loco runs  Buxton to Buxton via Chinley triangle to turn. Then 1Z59 Buxton 1438 to Hindlow 1531-1540. Then back via Peak Forest 1659, Chinley 1710, Hazel Grove 1727, Denton 1756-1838 then back to Carnforth via Man Vic, Eccles, Wigan NW.

The picture was taken - in the snow -  of the return journey. A day later and the train, which reached the highest point on the English rail network, would have been unable to run.

17 March 2018

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Still no Summer Timetable

We had been told by sources at Transport for Great Manchester that the final version of the timetable from 20 May would be available by 12 March, in time for a Meeting of the TfGM Committee, but it appears that another deadline has been missed. There is no sign of any actual timetable, although there have been hints that more trains will be stopping here than in the unacceptable consultation version. Also, it's clear that the proposed Macclesfield - Blackpool service which was to take over 'our' paths through to Oxford Road and Salford, which would have used electric trains, cannot be electric in May because the electrification of the line to Preston will not be finished in time.

A date of 7 April for publication of the timetable is now being proposed according to the National Rail website - just six weeks before it has to take effect.

Train times are supposed to be available twelve weeks ahead so people can book advance tickets - currently anyone wishing to travel to e.g. London, beyond 19 May will get a rather strange answer if they choose Davenport as a starting station on booking websites, as the current booking database contains just one train per day to Manchester at 07:25! But Virgin services are not changing, so you can choose one of the trains offered from Stockport, and 'on the day' use whatever Northern trains which finally become available.

13 March 2018

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Fares jungle

What the fare might be for any given Northern Railway journey is becoming very difficult to understand. There are 'anytime' tickets, 'off-peak tickets' and 'advance' tickets.  The meaning of 'off-peak' in terms of times of day depends on the route of the journey being made, notably whether or not you are travelling entirely within Greater Manchester. That definition has some qualifiers regarding some places outside, which in our view are not clearly understood by the average user, and station staff can be too busy to attend to someone who asks about all the permutations.

Then there are 'advance' tickets, some of which seem to be available (Online or at stations) up to just 15 minutes before departure, require you to travel on nominated Northern trains, at a fare which can be very cheap, depending on whether selected quotas are used up. These 'advance' fares generally do not offer seat reservations, which are not available on most Northern services.

A new member of the family from 25 February is the 'Northern Only' ticket between Manchester and Liverpool, which comes in 'anytime' and 'off-peak' versions and is valid only between Manchester (Piccadilly, Oxford Road, Deansgate) and Liverpool Lime Street. It's not restricted to a particular train so long as it's a Northern one, and is valid via either of the two routes, via Urmston or via Eccles. We wondered if you are not supposed to use one between, say, Urmston and Liverpool as it is cheaper than the normal fare from there, but we've been assured by Northern's Twitter staff that it is allowed.

What you can't do, which you can on an ordinary ticket to 'Liverpool Stations', is catch the Merseyrail underground train onward from Lime Street to James Street for the Pier Head. They can also be hard to find online unless you use the Northern website or app, as the general Journey Planner sites will try to give you the fastest journey. And of course other companies on the route have their own special offers.

One point worth mentioning is that the Stockport to Chester journey (via Altrincham) has its own Northern cheap fares, which are not shown if you ask for Davenport to Chester. If you are happy to go that way it is considerable cheaper to book separate tickets Davenport to Stockport and Stockport to Chester. For an off-peak day return, it comes to £14.90 instead of £18.60 'anytime' fare via any company. Absurdly, there is an even cheaper way if you are willing to travel Stockport to Chester via a change at Crewe, using only Virgin Trains services, as there is a Virgin-only off-peak day return for just £10.60 giving a total from Davenport of £13.10.  These cheaper options will, however, mean you need to avoid the 16:01 to 18:29 evening peak period for departures from Stockport on the way back as well as the morning peak.

Enough! Any corrections to the above very welcome... and always check our suggestions with Company websites.

13 March 2018

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Carillion update

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Carillion empire, which included the cleaning and upkeep of Northern stations, a contract has now been signed with the ISS company, which had the contract with the previous Northern franchise holder, to take on the appropriate Carillion staff and continue the station duties from April 2018.

Meanwhile, we have added some more spring plants, primroses and aubretia, to the station garden.

13 March 2018

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Yet again, strikes...

Two further strike days on Northern have been announced by the conductors' union RMT, for Monday 26 and Thursday 29 March. This dispute, created by the Government's insistence that some train services (using the new trains being built, presumably) should have doors controlled by the driver rather than the conductor who may or may not be present, looks like it may never end; the Department for Transport have underwritten any losses by the company, while the passengers get no compensation at all.



Reading the pronouncements by the Union and the company is an odd experience. The Union claim the dispute as about safety, while the Company rarely mention this, and concentrate on guaranteeing job security. No details have been released about how the 'Driver Controlled Operation' will work, but based on existing operations in the south of England, there will be need to be cameras at every train door, displaying their pictures on a screen in the driver's cab, even in conditions such as we have seen recently. You can read about the things to be considered in a PDF document on the Office or Rail and Road website.

Obviously there are some advantages of DCO, notably that an on-train person can sell tickets without interruption, but on the other hand it's far from clear who would deploy the wheelchair ramp when needed at small stations.

10 March 2018

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Strikes

RMT have announced another conductors' strike, for one day on Saturday 3 March. An hourly train service will run on our line, with trains to Manchester 10:08 to 21:08 and return from Manchester Piccadilly at 08:21 to 19:21. Trains call at all stations except Levenshulme and Heaton Chapel. See www.northernrailway.co.uk/strike for details of all Northern lines. Other companies' trains will be running as normal between Stockport and Manchester.

28 February 2018

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Tree news

Some good news is that the large section of fallen tree has finally been removed from the Waiting Room roof. The owners of neighbouring Davenport Lodge have obtained permission from the council to remove the horse-chestnut trees which have been dying due dying due to the imported diseases and parasites which are affecting such trees all over the country.

28 February 2018

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News from Woodsmoor

Our comrades at Woodsmoor Station Friends now have a website, which you can find at woodsmoorstation.strikingly.com.  They are holding their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday13 February at the Dog and Partridge pub on Buxton Road from 19:30. Here is the Agenda.

03 February 2018.

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Station updates

We have been informed that contracts have been issued to eradicate (?) the japanese knotweed on the station, and also to remove the broken tree which has been lying on the waiting room roof for almost a year. The latter job will, we hear, be carried out in March 2018. It is to be hoped that the owners of the part of the dead tree which remains standing will do something out it before it falls. We have also discussed with the local Station Manager the possibility that contractors could cut back the trees which are growing on the Manchester-bound platform, to enable us to engage in more tidying and planting. Volunteers are not allowed to bring power tools into use on the station.

The Carillion staff working on Northern's contracts are now being paid by Northern, so station cleaning, etc. continues as normal, although some sub-contractors are not willing to continue their services.

The proposal by Transport for Greater Manchester to take over the management and staffing of all the stations in Greater Manchester has been turned down by the Government, although TfGM may try again. We still cannot see how this would benefit users of our station.

03 February 2018

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Timetable Updates

Some readers may have noticed that the timetable supposed to apply from 19 May 2018 has appeared on the railway's database which can be view by searching for our station on websites such as realtimetrains.co.uk.  However, we have to point out that this may not be the final version, which we are now told will not be available until March, assuming that it goes ahead at all since the electrification of the Preston line, which should have freed some diesel trains for use on our line, has been delayed yet again.

The suggested service adds some improvements following the appalling consultation version, in that nearly all trains on our line do stop at Davenport and Woodsmoor. The concept of turning back trains at New Mills Newtown has been abandoned in favour of a half-hourly service to/from Buxton, which will be a much greater benefit to Buxtonians than the few minutes' shorter journey of an hourly train in the earlier example. New Mills has no facility to transfer trains to opposite track, so they would have had to travel to Furness Vale before returning.

The weekday daytime off-peak pattern of departures to Manchester Piccadilly from Davenport is xx.15, xx.25 and xx.40, which seems odd and looks even more odd when you look at the proposed arrival times at Piccadilly which are xx.36, xx.40 and xx.56. The xx.25 is to be an electric train from Hazel Grove, running non-stop from Stockport to Piccadilly.

There are more trains in late evening than now, although nothing between 20:15 and 21:29. The biggest problem is the morning peak service to Manchester, which starts well enough with trains at 06:15, 06:53, 07:15, 07:25 and 07:40, but then a massive gap until 08:25, and again until 09:15 when the off-peak sequence starts.

Sundays are an improvement of sorts over the present hourly service, with two trains per hour most of the day, but spaced just 20 minutes apart, which is less than ideal. Our request for more to stop at Middlewood on Sundays for Middlewood Way users has been ignored, with a two-hourly service most of the day as on weekdays.

Also, despite protests from user groups and Transport for Greater Manchester officials, all trains will terminate at Manchester Piccadilly, losing our useful current through links to Oxford Road, Deansgate and Salford Crescent which are much used by Davenport commuters. There are few convenient connections at Stockport,or even Manchester Piccadilly, either.

It seems the best we can hope for is that the whole plan is abandoned.

03 February 2018

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The Jolly Sailor

Some encouraging news about our local hostelry. A Greene King spokesman tells us:

"We’re looking for a new partner to join us at The Jolly Sailor in Stockport following the departure of our previous operator. While we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused to our customers, we’d like to reassure them we’ve already spoken with several potential partners and look forward to hopefully having the pub open again soon."

The pub had been part of Greene King's  tenanted and leased division since they purchased the Spirit Pub Company in 2015.

 31 January 2018

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Carillion collapse

The liquidation of the multinational combine Carllion will, amongst many other things, affect our station, as in 2015 after German Railways subsidiary took over our train services, they handed the company, said to be worth 120 million over nine years, starting  in April 2016, to:

Provide a range of hard and soft facilities management services, including asset surveys and asset planning, planned and reactive maintenance for over 460 stations across the north of England, helpdesk services, cleaning, grounds maintenance, waste management and pest control.  In addition, core services will also include projects works.  The contract can also be extended to include station improvement projects, train cleaning and depot facilities management services.

The following was received today from our contact at Northern:

We are working through our contingency plans after Carillion was put into liquidation earlier today. Northern has had a contract with Carillion to provide the customer contact centre team (based in Sheffield), and the station maintenance and cleaning teams, since 2016. Those teams are working normally today, answering customer calls and cleaning stations, and we are very thankful for their efforts in exceptional and difficult circumstances.

Our first priority is to ensure that we continue to provide these services to our customers, and we are looking at all options to ensure that happens. There are many issues to work through and we will keep you updated as and when we have specific information to share.

This could take some time...

15 January 2018

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A bar-restaurant in Davenport's shopping area?

Over on Facebook - a world we do not inhabit - there has been much discussion lately about the possibility of someone being encouraged to open a bar-restaurant on 'Davenport High Street' (Bramhall Lane) in either the closed 'Garden of Eden' shop or the abandoned bank branch. Facebook users can join the 'Davenport and Woodsmoor Group' to find out more: we understand there is to be a public meeting on 17 January.

There is also a petition on change.org. which has garnered many hundreds of signatures, asking Ann Coffey MP and/or Stockport Council to facilitate this. The suggestion is that 'every application seems to get blocked' which may be true, although the blocking must be in the form of advice from Council officers on an informal basis before applications are made, as the Planning Database does not reveal them. Neither does a study of Land Registry records reveal any 'Covenant' which may prevent such a business opening.

Nuisance to local residents and parking issues will no doubt be raised. It does seem unfortunate that this topic has come to prominence when the future use of the 'Jolly Sailor' building appears to be hanging in the balance.

15 January 2018

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Jolly Sailor closed

Some bad news for local residents is that the 'Jolly Sailor' pub closed its doors on 9 January, 'until further notice' and all the staff have been laid off. We understand there was 'an issue with the renewal of the lease'  which suggests that an unaffordable rent was demanded. Despite appearances, the pub is owned by one of the large 'Pub Companies' - according to the Land Registry the owner is a Finance company based in Amsterdam who have leased the pub to the Sprit Pub Company form 30 years from 2004. The address given is SPIRIT PUB COMPANY (LEASED) LIMITED, Sunrise House, Ninth Avenue, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire DE14 3JZ.

The friendly service and good food on offer by Gina and the team will be much missed. Let us hope that the owners make some sort of arrangement for the pub to continue, and do not go down the route of converting it to flats, or even demolition, as has become so common.

11 January 2018

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Strike information

Three more one-day conductor strikes called by the RMT union (see also 23 December item below) will be all day on Monday 8, Wednesday 10 and Friday 12 January. Some trains will run, as in previous occasions: see Northern's Strike information for further details. The Buxton line timetable is here.

In our opinion, passengers need more information on how Northern's proposal is intended to work, particularly in terms of helping less-mobile users at stations.  On the other hand, there's a minority of conductors who might be perhaps advised to make themselves more visible during the journey if they want to gain passengers' approval of their position.

7 January 2017

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Woodsmoor Crossing

Woodsmoor level crossing will be closed to all traffic for maintenance work from 8am on 13 January to 8am on 21 January.

6 January 2018

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James Chettle, Davenport Artist

Our history page about local artist James Patchell Chettle (1871-1944) has been updated with more information, pictures and press cuttings.

6 January 2018

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'New' Trains

As promised, Class 150 diesel trains no longer wanted by other companies have started to appear on Northern services: at least one ex-Great Western Railway example, 150 122, in GWR plain dark blue livery with red doors, has been noted in traffic.  Eventually these hand-me-downs will be refurbished, and fitted with a large disabled-friendly toilet, but the absurdly narrow 3 + 2 seats that we have come to know and hate will remain.

6 January 2018

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Fares rise

As usual, there's a nation-wide fare increase for the start of the year, starting on 3 January. Return fares from Davenport to Manchester, for example become £5.10 off-peak and £6.10 peak.

01 January 2018

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Yet more strikes

RMT has announced further strike action by train conductors on Monday 8, Wednesday 10 and Friday 12 January.

Richard Allan, Northern Railway’s Deputy Managing Director, writes on their website : 'Northern is committed to investing in new and updated trains, better stations and faster journeys for our customers. Northern is still prepared to guarantee jobs and pay for conductors for the rest of our franchise to 2025 if we can reach agreement on how our colleagues deliver better customer service using those fantastic new facilities. Additionally, last week the Government wrote to RMT, guaranteeing employment for conductors beyond 2025 if RMT ends its dispute.'

The RMT, on the other hand, continue to make claims of 'rail bosses' secret plans'.

23 December 2017

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