Last weekend we had no trains between Carlisle and Preston; this weekend the whole of the west coast mainline from Stafford to Glasgow and Edinburgh is closed. The train service is being replaced by a series of bus services. If you want to go from Glasgow Central to Crewe, the National Rail journey planner advises that it will take six hours and 10 minutes involving three bus journeys, and the fare will be £92 (the normal journey time by train is just under three hours). This sort of situation continues every weekend until the end of May. Isn’t it time that Network Rail and the train companies found a way of providing a more consistent train service at weekends? I understand why they have to do engineering work, but why for six weekends on the trot?
Ian Watson
Carlisle
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