Crackdown on rowdy ale trail

TROUBLE . . . on the ale trail

A SPECIAL team will be on watch tomorrow for rowdy passengers on the legendary Rail Ale Trail.

The move comes after reports of children left terrified when a mass brawl broke out on a train from Huddersfield to Manchester.

And rail operator Northern Rail said: "We have a zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour on our network.

"We are doubling up resources this weekend, with more officers at Slaithwaite and two teams travelling on the trains. British Transport Police will support at Marsden.

"We simply will not tolerate this type of behaviour and would ask for anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward with any information."

Northern's new Travel Safe team is based at Manchester Victoria station.

Northern, which is run by Arriva and is the UK's largest train operator outside of London, has a second colleague as well as the driver on board every service. To supplement this existing presence, the new Travel Safe team support everyday network activity, late night services, special events and sporting fixtures.

Alex Hynes, Managing Director for Northern, said: "The safety of our customers and colleagues is paramount. We're delighted that we have been able to increase our safety presence right across the network so significantly.

A fight involving about 30 people broke out on a train from Huddersfield to Manchester last Saturday.