SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, has invited a senior member of CrossCountry Trains’ management team to speak at its next public meeting, which is being held on Thursday 26th March at 7.30 pm at Morpeth Methodist Church in Howard Terrace.
Richard Gibson is Head of Communications for CrossCountry Trains, part of the Arriva group, which is the company that took over the Cross Country rail franchise just over a year ago. Richard is expected to talk about the new franchise that his company inherited, the challenges of last December’s timetable change, and plans to develop the franchise and deal with issues such as overcrowding that are a real problem on some parts of the network.
But Morpeth passengers will be keen to hear if there is any chance of CrossCountry re-instating the 4 services each way per day that Morpeth enjoyed prior to the last timetable train. These services were introduced by the previous franchise operator following request from SENRUG. However, CrossCountry reduced them to 3 trains each way per day though this is still in excess of their franchise commitment, which is just 2. CrossCountry also introduced additional services at weekends.
Dennis Fancett, Chair of SENRUG said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Mr Gibson to Morpeth. We hope the meeting will give an opportunity for CrossCountry passengers to meet a member of the company’s management team and feed back on the service they experience. We also hope to demonstrate there is a real demand for CrossCountry services in this busy market and county town and that more trains are justified.”
The meeting is open to all members of the public and will include a Question and Answer session. Refreshments will be available prior to the start of the meeting.
SENRUG’s ultimate aspiration is to see an inter-city service at Morpeth every 2 hours in each direction. The group also campaign for other issues such as level access to the northbound platform, longer opening hours for the ticket office, and a customer information system on train running information to be provided. SENRUG have made significant progress in their campaign for the Ashington Blyth and Tyne line to be re-opened to passengers. The group welcomes more members, and details can be found at www.senrug.co.uk.
