Leaves to blame for late trains

THE Reliability of Oldham’s commuter trains has plunged this autumn.

The Public Performance Measure (PPM) — a guide of how many trains are cancelled or more than five minutes late — has dipped below 90 per cent for the first time in almost a year.

Although still better than the performance of Greater Manchester’s long distance operators Virgin and TransPennine Express, Northern’s poor performance has ended months of celebrated improvements. Only three months ago, the company was achieving a ppm of almost 94 per cent.

With more than 100 new services across the North-West this winter, the new director for Greater Manchester Lee Wasnidge said: “It has been a difficult autumn.”

He said that signal failures, leaves on the line, cable theft, and trespassing had all affected services.

And added: “We have also had a lot of sickness among the staff. There were some rostering problems but we are working hard to put them right.”

Oldham Councillor John Dillon expressed concern that three of the four trains an hour from Rochdale to Manchester will have come from Leeds and only one on the Oldham loop.

Northern’s Mark Barker said that the loop services were being reduced so they can be taken out of the timetable when the line closes for conversion to Metrolink next year.