A LEADING politician has held crunch talks with the boss of Northern to obtain answers as to why the service is floundering on the Furness line.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock spoke for 30 minutes with Alex Hynes, managing director of Northern, to discuss his concerns after a string of cancellations in December.

Mr Woodcock said: "We spoke at length about the problems facing the network and he was upfront about how unacceptable the service is on the Furness line at the moment.

"As he talked through the problems you do have some sympathy but Northern have to find a way to improve the quality of their service.

"The problems they have identified are not going to be fixed for several months but we can't continue to have the level of cancellations that we experienced over the Christmas period."

One of the most prevalent issues which caused a high number of cancellations was staff shortages - something which was recognised by Mr Hynes.

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Mr Woodcock added: "It does seem that staffing is the main issue and I am keen to talk to staff representatives for workers on the Furness line to see if they share the same understanding.

"It was essential that they acknowledged the problem. I was wondering if I would get excuses which might try to suggest that its performance was not as bad as people were making out but I didn't get that.

"It has been recognised from the top but being readily able to sort it out is another thing."

Mr Woodcock also shared his concerns about Furness College students missing out on cut-price rail fares after being omitted from a season ticket scheme.

The Labour MP was assured by Mr Hynes that this would be looked into as "a matter of emergency."

Mr Woodcock insisted that it will take at least a few months to rectify the issues with Northern but hopes to work closely with regional bosses to find a solution.

At the same time, he encouraged people to continue to make their voices heard in a bid to highlight the need for radical change.

He added: "I am pleased that Mr Hynes picked up the phone straight away and that he recognises the scale of the problem but I know that it makes no difference to people who are suffering terrible service - they need to see an improvement.

"I absolutely share their frustrations and they are absolutely right to be angry.

"Every time the service fails then make a noise about it and complain and make sure you get your money back.

"We collectively need to make sure that we are demanding a better service and better treatment than what we have had."

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