A spokesperson for Transport for the North said:
“Transport for the North is extremely disappointed and concerned with the inadequate performance of Northern. We have formally raised these concerns with Northern making it clear that we want more to be done to rectify the performance issues and to mitigate against impacts on passengers and for action to be taken immediately.
“This is a matter of significant concern to us and we are aware that across the Northern franchise, parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria have been badly affected by these performance issues and we recognise the detrimental effect of unreliable train services on both passengers and the economy.
“We have requested an improvement plan to return performance to an acceptable level for passengers and will be meeting Northern to discuss this further. We will continue to monitor Northern’s performance, in conjunction with the Rail North Partnership which co-manages the day-to-day management of the rail franchises in the North, and will use our influence to ensure that the train operating company provides an improved level of service as quickly as possible.”
See our response to Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s letter to John Cridland, Chairman of Transport for the North