First thing on a brisk morning on Britain’s most-cancelled train the long-suffering passengers have plenty to say about what they call Northern Fail
The 7.13 from Harrogate to Leeds has been cancelled 28 times since new timetables came out in December – more than half the 55 days it was scheduled to run.
This time a miracle occurs – the train is actually two minutes early. But with only two carriages it will fill up very quickly.
Among those getting on board are chartered surveyor David Hodgson, 47, who has been let down by this service so often he has changed his working schedule to accommodate the chaos.
He says: “It’s an absolute disaster. I’m not surprised it’s the worst in the country.
"There are only two carriages – if a train gets cancelled you get two trains’ worth of passengers into the next one. By the time you get to Leeds it’s rammed.”
This is not one of the hated Pacer trains, converted from buses in the 1970s.
But today’s train, built in the late ’80s, is still cold and the seats are hard and grimy.
David says: “They never clean them. They’re disgusting.”
The last stop before Leeds is Horsforth, where cancelled services hit passengers with a double whammy as the trains that follow are so full they cannot get on.
Student Aman Flora, 16, from Adel, Leeds, is commuting to Huddersfield University where he is studying business and economics.
He says: “I’ve missed lectures because of the cancellations.”
Business development manager Danielle Suley, 34, finds cancellations hit childcare.
The mum says: “Work’s understanding – every employer in Leeds knows how bad the system is. Coming back is worse, you have to rush to get to nursery before it closes.”
Operator Northern axed over 5,700 services from December 15 to February 22 – the most of any operator – but has been brought under government control.
Northern apologised for “reliability issues” and said: “During the next 100 days we will be working to stabilise performance.”
