NORTHERN Rail apologised to its customers after a town councillor and residents collected a tally of cancelled train services on the Furness line. 

In one case, a child only received an email notification 15 minutes before her train was due, and others did not receive a replacement bus service for a train cancelled at school leaving time.

The rail operator blamed the number of cancelled services on staff sickness. 

Roosecote councillor Paul Griffiths has collected a list of case studies from residents outlining some of the experiences they have had with cancelled services. He also used the website Real Time Trains, which provides live and historical information on trains across the UK network. The website outlines if a service was on time, delayed or cancelled. 

One particularly bad day was Wednesday, 27 September, which was not a strike day. 

These were the cancelled services on that day at Roose station: 

  • 1002 from Carlisle to Lancaster
  • 1053 from Barrow to Manchester Airport
  • 1254 from Carlisle to Lancaster
  • 1558 from Manchester Airport to Barrow
  • 1655 from Barrow to Manchester Airport
  • 1931 from Lancaster to Barrow
  • 2146 from Manchester Airport to Barrow
  • 2149 from Carlisle to Preston
  • 2304 from Lancaster to Barrow

One parent told Cllr Griffiths: "Wednesday 3.43pm from Ulverston was cancelled with very little warning and no replacement bus!"

Another said: "The 3.43pm is cancelled regularly and the buses fill quick if they do put on a replacement. I've lost count the amount of times I've had to try and get my children home or they've had to hang around Ulverston for a later train due to work commitments."

A resident wanting to travel from Roose to Manchester Airport on Wednesday, October 4 had to shell out 'four times as much' on an airport taxi when they received news that their train was cancelled. 

Many agreed that the strikes are manageable because parents are notified far in advance, but the last-minute cancellations are much more of an issue for rail users. 

Cllr Griffiths said: "Over the last two or three weeks I have been getting different residents talking to me, just trying to build up a picture of a lot of cancellations. It's causing them a lot of problems because then children then can't get home." 

READ MORE: Roose station to be pronounced correctly in train announcements

Craig Harrop, regional director at Northern said: “We are sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused to our customers travelling between Barrow-in-Furness and Carlisle.

“We are actively managing higher levels of staff sickness, and on Sundays, which rely on crews volunteering to work additional hours, we have seen a reduction in drivers making themselves available on parts of the network. In addition, the ongoing industrial relations issues have their own impact.

“We are working hard with to improve service reliability including aiming to increase the number of drivers through the recruitment of qualified drivers for our depots at Blackpool and Barrow.”