DELAYS on the Furness Line could soon be rectified, a rail campaigner has claimed.
Robert Parker, of the Furness Line Action Group (FLAG), said a series of cancellations on the line, which runs from Barrow-Lancaster, was ‘just not good enough’.
He said part of the problem was that drivers had been taken off duty for training about the new trains which have recently been introduced.
“We know that Northern have been experiencing problems for a while,” Mr Parker said.
“The new trains are not working as well as they should do.
“The problem is that they had to take drivers off duty to handle the new trains.
“I’ve been told the problem should improve from August 12 when everything should be operating as normal.”
It comes as train users boarding from Barrow to Manchester Airport were met with ten cancellations on Sunday due to crew shortages and adverse weather conditions.
Lynn Woodhouse had booked a trip to Blackpool with her three young grandchildren. Her train was cancelled, forcing the family to pile onto one single overcrowded carriage.
She said: “When we arrived it said our train had been cancelled but nobody had let us know.
“We were waiting for more than an hour with three little ones when they suddenly announced a platform change. We had to rush under the bridge with a buggy onto an extremely overcrowded train.
“I would’ve thought Northern would’ve put an extra carriage on."
Ms Woodhouse began to feel ‘extremely uncomfortable’ as more people piled on the train.
“I’m asthmatic and I was beginning to feel very short of breath,” she said. “Northern was not interested in passenger experience.”
A Northern spokesman said: “Due to a lightning strike near Lancaster on Sunday, dozens of trains had to be cancelled in Cumbria. This affected several different train operators. A small handful of Northern trains were also cancelled on Sunday due to crew shortages on the day.”
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