PASSENGERS were left outraged this evening after they were left in limbo when every train headed for Barrow was cancelled.
Rail users trying to get back to the north west this evening (Sunday 8) were initially told by Northern there would be no trains or replacement bus services.
Services departing from Lancaster from 5.49pm until the last train at 10.15pm have been affected.
Journalist Dickie Felton was caught up by the disruption. Tweeting to Northern's customer assistance team on alternative transport arrangement for stranded passengers, he was met with this Tweet:
Hi Dickie. I'm afraid we're not running any replacement buses on this route so we would advise speaking to station staff at Lancaster for further assistance. Very sorry for this ^JB
— Northern (@northernassist) July 8, 2018
This sparked anger from numerous people questioning why there had not been any provision made for passengers trying to get home.
Alerted to the news, Barrow's MP John Woodcock branded the service appalling.
He said, on Twitter: "This is appalling. Why are you not running replacement services? I would like to speak to your regional director ASAP."
Within half an hour Northern had managed to location replacement buses for some of the cancelled services. It is not known if this is directly as a result of pressure from the public or Mr Woodcock.
GOOD. Why on EARTH did you think it was acceptable to leave passengers stranded in Lancaster?? https://t.co/C7fGSsT5jC
— John Woodcock (@JWoodcockMP) July 8, 2018
One train from Barrow to Lancaster, at 8.46pm has been affected. One other train, and another bus replacement are still running as scheduled.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here