Bolton MP Chris Green has spoken out against the decision of a trade union to extend their Saturday strikes which will cause further disruption to the lives of more local rail users.
The RMT’s decision to strike comes as a result of their ongoing disputes with Northern rail regarding their decision to change the role of on-board conductors.
Now the re-electrification works have now finished and the new trains have been unveiled, northern rail users are now faced with more disruption not only due to Northern Rail’s Sunday cancellations and their extension to Saturday strikes.
Mr Green said: “We already have our new trains ready to go on the re-electrified train lines in December but train-drivers now need to be retrained in order to use them.
“This however is impossible when northern staff are continuing to go on strike, not only delaying the delivery of their training but also further delaying benefits of the improvement works that have already caused so much disruption.
“My constituents don’t want delay and cancellation compensation, they want their trains to be on time. I urge the trade union to reconsider their strike action so local residents can sooner benefit from improvement works that are now ready and waiting to be implemented.”