Number of Manchester Airport to Barrow trains set to be reduced
Last updated at 16:44, Friday, 17 August 2012
CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating the retention of the majority of direct trains from Barrow to Manchester.
However, direct services from Manchester to Furness are set to be reduced from 2014.
Yesterday, First TransPennine Express said it would only reduce the amount of direct trains from South Cumbria to Manchester Airport from six to five in 2014. The company had originally planned to cut the service to only two a day.
However, the amount of trains going in the opposite direction, from the airport to Barrow, will be reduced from nine a day to five from the airport (and one further service from Piccadilly).
And the amount of trains from Windermere to Manchester Airport will also be reduced from four to just one service a day.
Nick Donovan, managing director of FTPE, was in Barrow to speak at meeting of the Furness Line Community Partnership.
He said: “One of the positives for me was the strength of the feedback we got through the campaign led by John Woodcock (Barrow MP) and local institutions that the area needed the preservation of the direct services as a priority and this enabled us to focus on the development of the timetable.”
Mr Donovan said the company had managed to preserve direct services from Barrow by slightly increasing journey times and trains doing more miles. However, he said the company does not have enough trains to preserve the current level of service from Manchester.
Barrow MP John Woodcock, who led the Cumbria Better Connected campaign, said the group will continue to fight for direct services to be preserved after the franchise expires in 2015.
He said: “It is really good news that they have U-turned on their plans to cut the Barrow to Manchester services in half. But obviously real concerns remain about the fact that there is still a big cut in the trains coming the other way.”
South Lakes MP Tim Farron said: “First TransPennine have today agreed to keep the same number of direct services from Manchester to Windermere. This is good to hear and a win for our transport campaign – I’m sure it will be welcomed by businesses and our tourism sector.
“But they have said they will be slashing the direct services from Windermere to Manchester from four to just one a day. I will continue to oppose this and lobby both First TransPennine and the government to change this.”
First published at 16:19, Friday, 17 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
If First are planning to run a direct service from Barrow to London wouldn't they be trumpeting that possibility?
More likely they are planning to run down the services because they have a bus and coach company that they plan to offer journeys on that route - and with Furness wages being LOW and bus tickets being CHEAP its a good fit ... for them.First Group being allowed to run so many of the routes and having a monopoly on services is NOT GOOD FOR ANYONE living and working in the North West.View all 9 comments on this article
Have your say
Blackpool is getting a direct train to London, yet Barrow is losing some of the few services it has to Manchester. Where's the fairness in that?
In addition, the majority of Manchester to Barrow services are attached to the Glasgow train and split at Preston - it shouldn't be an issue therefore to keep them.
Finally, I regularly get the service at Manchester and you can certainly tell at a glance the people that are destined for Barrow - rough isn't the word!!! Then when you get to Preston it fills up with people who don't work,full of shopping bags, boasting how much they get on the benefits gravy train...which is so funny because that is exactly what this train is!!!!!!
Posted by Wayne Chips on 25 August 2012 at 16:36