NORTHERN has been told to improve the 'abysmal' train services in Furness.

Barrow MP Simon Fell has written to the rail operator urging the company to come up with a 'concrete' plan to improve its services for passengers.

The MP said he had been inundated with complaints and demands for answers about train services operated by Northern on the Furness Line following cancellations and delays.

He laid out his concerns in a letter to Craig Harrop, Northern's interim regional director for the North West

Mr Fell said: "I am writing to you regarding the abysmal rail services provided by Northern Rail which operate within the Barrow and Furness constituency.

"It has become clear that there is a serious issue when it comes to the local rail services from delays to cancellations to a lack of replacement services, and something must change.

"Over the last year, my mailbox has been inundated with both complaints and demands for answers from Northern about what you will do to alleviate these pressures and transform the service into one that works to the benefit of all parties, including service operators and passengers.

"Whilst I am aware that I have already written several times in the past to Northern to get a response about the worsening situation, and whilst my office has always had a thorough response and explanation from you and the team, I am yet to see demonstration of any improvements."

He said constituents were 'tired of excuses and explanations and need to see action taken to improve this service', calling for the train company 'to provide concrete solutions to these persistent problems and outline how they are going to carry out their action plan'.

"Issues on the Furness Line are brought to me week in week out by constituents, and there seems to be no movement forward," he added.

"As a regular user of our trains, I am sad to see them becoming less, rather than more reliable."

Passengers on the Furness Line have been seeing multiple cancellations to services, with fears that school children are being unable to reliably travel to and from school.

Northern was contacted for comment but did not respond.

It previously apologised for cancellations and said it was 'working hard with to improve service reliability'.