Rail services to be axed

12:20pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008

Comments (2)   Have your say »

NORTHERN Rail are set to reduce the number of commuter trains stopping at Flixton train station in the evenings by two thirds.

The company have announced that from December 14, when the new winter timetable is introduced, the number of sprinter trains stopping at the Flixton Road station enroute to Manchester from Liverpool, which also stops at Warrington, will be cut from five to two.

They’ve blamed the move on the increased number of trains competing for a slot at Manchester’s Oxford Road Station, and have told furious commuters it’s a necessary measure essential so their other services don’t miss their departure slots out of Manchester.

Brian Crossan, who for years has commuted between Flixton where he lives, and Warrington where he works for BT, said he, like many others, would be severely inconvenienced by the decision: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out,” he said.

“It’ll mean I can’t leave work early or late anymore, and basically takes away any flexibility I had.

“Under the new timetable there’ll be a train leaving Warrington at 4.58pm and then not another one that stops at Flixton until 7.22pm.

“At the moment there’s another three services which stop at Flixton in between those times so it’s always meant there was never much longer than half an hour wait for a train if you missed one. It also means the trains are going to be much busier,” he said.

Brian contacted Northern Rail but was told there wasn’t much they could do. “They told me it was out of their hands, and if I had a problem with it then I should get in touch with the Department for Transport. It wasn’t really very useful.”

Messenger put it to Northern that the new timetable was likely to seriously inconvenience many rail users on their daily commute home, and asked why the decision had been taken.Spokeswoman Carolyn Watson explained: “Northern is bringing in a new timetable on Sunday, December 14, which means new times for 1,300 of our daily services across the North West of England.

“These changes have been driven by the industry timetable change for all services in and around the West Coast Main Line. All services in the North West are moving to a standard hour pattern or clockface timetable, which together with the significant increase in long distance services means changes to local services.

“We have been working hard to provide the best possible service for customers but for a small number of stations we have had to reduce some services," she said.