THE new South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis has laid into train operator Northern and said using the service was like ‘going back in time’.
Mr Jarvis, who is also the Barnsley Central MP, ripped into the company after new timetables and services resulted in a lack of drivers, cancelled services and furious commuters across South Yorkshire and further afield.
Mr Jarvis, who commutes from Barnsley into Sheffield as mayor, said he has experienced the problems first hand and said the service at present ‘should’ve been consigned to the past’.
He said: “I’m not the only one but I’m incredibly concerned about performance of Northern Rail in recent times.
“The existing service going to and from Sheffield and Barnsley for example it’s just not good enough at the moment.
“Both as mayor and as a commuter I absolutely share those concerns and frustrations I experience them on a daily basis myself.
“It’s like going back in time and not in a good way using that service. It feels like a service that should’ve been consigned to the past. People deserve a better, more modern service
“It simply isn’t good enough whilst people can accept delays occasionally for reasons out of their control essentially at the moment we don’t have a system that’s fit for purpose in 2018.”
Mr Jarvis said he will be meeting with Secretary of State Chris Grayling on Thursday to see what national government can be doing to improve the service.
The mayor added he was writing to Northern this week to air his concerns about the chaotic service.
In a letter to Yorkshire MPs published on Wednesday, Mr Grayling said that the level of disruption on Northern Rail last week was ‘wholly unsatisfactory’ and the scale of the chaos ‘far outstripped any expectation’.
Northern has been contacted for a comment.
