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TROUBLE scene: Ashton railway
MP slams ‘chaotic’ railway rush hour
16/ 1/2008
ASHTON MP David Heyes has written to transport chiefs over "dangerous" and "chaotic" scenes during the rush hour at Ashton train station.
Passengers are regularly left standing on the platform after Manchester-bound services arrive already crammed to capacity.
The situation has deteriorated considerably recently after Northern Rail took over the franchise.
Trains often pull in with two coaches instead of four, while others are late or simply cancelled altogether.
Mr Heyes visited the station to observe the problems encountered by commuters every day.
He claimed the quality of peak-time rail travel from Ashton to be "little better than third world standard".
He said: "In the space of half-an-hour one train arrived with two coaches instead of four.
"A few people managed to squeeze on board despite some understandable aggravation from fellow passengers. But another 35 people were left on the platform to await the next train. Then the PA system announced this train was cancelled.
"As new passengers continued to arrive, soon there were 150 people on the platform and another PA announcement explained the next expected train would also have two rather than four coaches. At this point dozens of passengers just walked away. Those that stayed were involved in a pushing and jostling match to get on – but not all managed to.
"The commuters I spoke to told me about getting in trouble with employers about their punctuality because of the unreliability of the trains.
"The scenes were little short of chaotic and potentially dangerous."
Northern Rail insist they have inherited an inadequate quantity and quality of carriages, but admit they were caught on the hop by an unanticipated jump in the number of people travelling by rail.
"Northern Rail spokeswoman Carolyn Watson said: "When the franchise was awarded the Strategic Rail Authority had not foreseen any significant growth in passenger numbers in the north west, so there was no new investment for rolling stock or improvements to stations.
"The reality is that journeys have in fact gone up by 23 per cent.
"There’s no one solution and no one organisation that can solve the problem.
"It’s about working together with organisations like Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and local authorities and people like David Heyes to find funding for new rolling stock."
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17/01/2008 at 11:57