UNION bosses described the ongoing situation with train operator Northern as "absolute chaos" despite fewer cancellations.

Steve Nott, national executive member for the Manchester and North West region of the RMT union,

said there is still major problems with staffing and timetables affecting the Lakes Line reopening and Cumbria rail passengers.

He said: "Northern have had chronic staffing problems in the driver and conductor areas.

"There isn't enough recruitment and there's a heavy reliance on overtime work."

Craig Johnston, the union's relief organiser for the North, said: "Northern have displayed crass incompetence on their part.

"The whole thing is a catalogue of one disaster after another.

"It's lead to absolute chaos, they're not doing enough to make it right.

"This is a company that cannot deliver for the North and its customers. They are at war with their own staff.

"This is not a successful recipe for an essential public service."

Calls have been made for Northern to be stripped of its franchise after new train times sparked chaos across south Cumbria and beyond.

Cancellations, delays and a lack of space on rescheduled rail services caused chaos for rail users with hundreds of trains affected since the introduction of a new timetable.

Rail bosses faced regular and repeated criticism from passengers, who were growing increasingly frustrated with the service - or lack of - provided for users travelling to and from South Cumbria.

In total 1,000's of services have been cancelled across the North West.

In a bid to improve the issue, rail bosses decided to temporarily close the Lakes Line for two weeks between Oxenholme and Windermere replacing all services with buses to public disgust.

The temporary closure was then extended by two weeks leading to South Lakes MP Tim Faron to set up a protest walk against the closure.

And in reaction to the strength of feeling in Cumbria, The Mail launched it's own campaign - 'Get Our Railway Back On Track' - in which we added our voice to the call for Northern to be stripped of its franchise.

A Northern spokesman said: "We introduced temporary timetables on several routes in the North West to give customers much more certainty about the rail services which will run.

“As part of this, we announced that we were removing all rail services on the Lakes Line to and from Preston, Lancaster and Oxenholme for an initial period of two weeks, and were instead providing a replacement coach service to keep people who live, work and visit the Lake District on the move. This has included express coaches in operation for commuters, stopping services for tourists and special buses for school children – ensuring customers are able to continue to travel along the Lakes Line and enjoy all the Lake District has to offer.

“It has since been agreed with Transport for the North that this closure – and the provision of rail replacements services – will run for a further two weeks until Sunday 1 July. This will enable us to provide a more reliable service in the region and help deliver training for our drivers, so that rail services on the Lakes Line can be reintroduced in a way that provides more certainty to passengers.

"In addition, from Monday 11 June, we increased the frequency of coaches in operation between stations on the Lakes Line to give our customers even greater flexibility and help them plan onward journeys with confidence.

“We will be working closely with our stakeholders in the region to develop a marketing campaign to highlight all the Lake District has to offer and to assure anyone visiting the world heritage site that it is very much open for business.

“We are determined to provide the best possible service for our customers on the Lakes Line and will continually monitor our performance and the efficiency of the road transport we are currently operating. As part of this we will be seeking feedback from our customers and local stakeholders to ensure we are providing a service that keeps the Lake District on the move."