Railwatch 081 - October 1999

North West

By Robert Cummings

The Branch has been very concerned about the crisis that has embroiled North Western Trains in recent months.

After a promising first year, problems emerged shortly after the takeover of parent company Great Western Holdings, by FirstGroup and a £4 million shortfall was revealed following the reduction in grant from OPRAF and the two North West passenger transport executives. This was compounded by some horrendous reliability problems during the summer caused by the loss of drivers to other train operators and the introduction of new services from Rochdale, Blackpool and Manchester Airport to London Euston. Things had deteriorated so much that the company was "called in" by OPRAF on 18 August 1998 with Managing Director Peter Strachan, leaving on the following day.

While North Western Trains have taken steps to recruit more drivers and there are signs that the situation is improved, the company has reacted to the crisis in a completely negative way. The Manchester to Hadfield line, which saw off-peak services increased from 30 to 20 minute frequency in October 1997, reverted back to 30 minutes in September, despite a minimal effort to market the service and a huge amount of fare evasion as conductors juggled their normal duties with making station announcements and collecting fares on a route with frequent stops at stations that are largely unmanned. Many fares outside passenger transport executive areas were also increased by a whopping 10% in September, while those on the fledgling London services (which have been relatively lightly loaded, probably due to the abysmal attempts to publicise them!) were increased by as much as 150%.

The company also announced that it was making 200 staff redundant during September, blaming reductions in grant from the Goverment (which hadn't been known from the outset of the Franchise?) and a reduction in patronage (which had been up 10% before reliability plummeted in May. While the staff reductions are not "operational" staff, their loss will inevitably create a strain on those that remain. If the financial crisis is not to deepen next year when its grant is reduced further, North Western Trains must grow its business. That will require a huge marketing exercise and improved services. At the moment there is little evidence of either.

The next North West branch meeting will be in the Reception Room, Manchester Central Library (opposite St Peters Square Metrolink) commencing at 11.00 on Saturday 23 January.

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