Alex Sobel has welcomed the impending nationalisation of Northern Rail saying the company "failed Leeds residents".
Arriva, who operate the Northern franchise, are set to hand back control to the Government this week after a torrid period of poor service- particularly around the introduction of a new timetable which contributed to serious delays to services including here in Leeds.
The MP for Leeds North West held several meetings with Northern in 2018 to try to resolve persistent constituent concerns about poor service and delayed trains on the Harrogate line. He finally calling for nationalisation after the delay in scrapping pacers back in July.
Welcoming the news, Alex said: “I am sick of receiving letters and emails from people who are finding persistent late trains, unreliable services and poor conditions. Just this morning I was delayed in getting into Leeds on the Harrogate line.
My next train, a nationalised LNER service to London, was prompt and reliable. Northern had failed Leeds residents and I am pleased that the Government, who have resisted this common-sense action for so long, have finally taken the franchise back into public control. I will now put forward the case for a better, affordable and modern train service run in the national interest across all of our lines.”