The following is a copy of the letter we sent last week to Northern in Leeds. We have also mailed METRO in the hope that they might be able to persuade the company to do something.
Terry Sheppard,
Customer Relations Officer,
Northern Rail
PO Box 208
Leeds LS1 2BU
28th January 2007
Your reference:
Dear Mr Sheppard,
Shortly before Christmas , we received a letter from your office in reply to a letter sent to your former managing director regarding the lack of train information announcements at local stations.
We wrote to Ms Mottram after every attempt to gain useful information from a number of senior personnel in Northern Rail about the failure to provide even the most basic travel information.
After a delay of some 3 months, the service was restored shortly early in December. But this restoration only lasted a matter of weeks, and come Christmas any information service was again denied to passengers travelling from stations in the Colne Valley.
We would be grateful if you will let us know when passengers may expect to receive an information service, if only of the most basic kind, that will let us know when trains are likely to appear, if they are delayed, or if they are cancelled.
During the earlier denial of service, one of you staff posted a notice to instruct passengers to use their mobiles. We have triedn this recently in desperation, after standing for ten minutes in the freezing cold, only to be told that there are no operators available. The alternative service is too complicated for many to operate.
We have heard from other sources that there have been similar problems with the Penistone line. Given this multiple failure by your company to provide this basic service, we believe that the public are entitled to an explanation of your failure to perform.
We look forward to your response at an early date
Yours sincerely,
Tony Bowers
Chair
CC David Stopher at West Yorks Metro