FRESH calls have been made to end a rail company's hold in Cumbria following a day of chaos.

On Sunday more than 30 services in the county were cancelled by Northern due to a shortage of drivers.

Nothern have admitted its performance was "extremely disappointing," however this dis not satisfy Lakes MP Tim Farron who has renewed called for them to go.

Today, (10), after submitting his early day motion, Mr Farron said: "For far too long now Cumbria has been seen as the end of the line by rail bosses in Manchester and Government ministers in London.

"Rail franchises have become too big and as a result do nothing to serve communities away from major population centres.

"It’s high time now for Cumbria to have its own franchise run by a provider that is actually interested in providing a reliable service – something which Northern has repeatedly failed to do.

Following the problems experienced in Cumbria Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern, apologised for the disruption, saying “The service we provided on Sunday was extremely disappointing and I would like to apologise to all of our customers who were affected by this disruption."

Earlier this month Mr Farron presented a petition to 10 Downing Street demanding for Northern to be Stripped of its Franchise. This ran in tandem with a campaign started by The Mail calling for better rail services for Cumbrians.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock added his support to the motion tabled by his colleague in parliament.

He said: "It was bad enough that more than 30 trains were cancelled at the weekend but that misery was compounded for many passengers who were stranded on stations because replacement buses were not running either.

“Taxis were again scrambled and the routine apologies issued but this situation is completely unacceptable.

“Northern have since told me that they will be looking further ahead and planning further ahead, but rail customers can’t be blamed for taking such assurances with a pinch of salt. There remain questions on how to make a micro-franchise for Cumbria sustainable but I support the motion as a means of increasing the pressure for change. I hope Tim will be reaching out to all Cumbria’s MPs so we can continue to speak with one voice on this."