Bolton North East MP Sir David Crausby met with rail operators on Friday 20th April and made clear to them the huge number of concerns facing local commuters.
Rail passengers in Bolton have faced a difficult few years as electrification work has caused disruption, while a shortage of carriages has led to severe overcrowding on key routes.
Sir David met with representatives from Northern, First Transpennine Express and Network Rail at his Bolton office to outline his frustrations on behalf of local residents. Among other things he questioned the rail companies over delays to electrification, overcrowding, short-formed trains, timetable changes, broken promises to restore the Scottish services, customer information, problems with the Delay Repay scheme, and station parking at Bromley Cross and Hall i’th’ Wood.
Following the meeting Sir David said:
“I want these companies to understand how difficult it is for local residents. It shouldn’t be a battle just to get on the train, and nobody should expect spend their commute stuck in a toilet with two strangers as it’s the only space left to stand. They offered me a fresh set of promises that things will improve by Christmas; I’ll add those to the pile of promises given over the years and keep pushing them to make changes.”