Train company admits relying on volunteers to staff Sunday services

Aug 13 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

A TRAIN company which provides Merseyside with links to the Midlands, Yorkshire and the East of England has admitted relying on staff volunteering to crew its services on Sundays.

Central Trains, which will lose its franchise at the end of the year, made the revelation as hundreds of passengers on services out of Liverpool Lime Street suffered delays and cancellations all day yesterday.

The firm announced on Friday that it would have to operate a reduced service across its network yesterday, due to staff shortages.

Other services were replaced by buses due to engineering work.

According to Central Trains, its staff work on a voluntary basis on Sundays, and a spokesman said it did not have enough people coming forward to crew all services yesterday.

Rachel Webster, from Central Trains, said: “Drivers and conductors who work for the company work on a voluntary basis on Sundays. This Sunday, we have had a lower than normal number of volunteers. This is overtime they can earn.

“From time to time, if we don’t get enough staff volunteering who can work on these routes, then we have to set up contingencies.”

Passengers travelling east on the company’s services towards Nottingham and East Anglia were advised to find alternative travel, while services between Liverpool and Birmingham were reduced.

A spokesman for rail group Northwest Travelwatch said: “Using buses or reducing services should only ever be a last resort.

“Rail users should be able to expect to turn up at a station, at the time the timetable states, and board the train to their destination. Companies should have the systems in place to ensure these sevices run.”

Central Trains will lose its franchise, which centres around the Midlands, later this year when it is split into two.

That is set to be good news for Liverpool commuters.

As the Daily Post revealed last week, services placed within the new East Midlands franchise, including the Liverpool to Norwich service, will have capacity increased to reduce overcrowding.

Some rail experts believe the capacity may result in a 35% rise in seating on the services.

Details of the demand, placed within the franchise agreement the Department for Transport has struck with new operator Stagecoach, are an unexpected surprise for transport bosses in the region, who had feared the key Liverpool-Manchester commuter rail route was becoming too packed.

At the same time, the Government has also awarded a new West Midlands franchise, including the Central-operated Liverpool-Birmingham route.

London and Birmingham Railway Ltd has been handed the franchise, promising a twice-hourly service between Liverpool and Birmingham – improving on the current timetable.

It has also promised new trains, and is also introducing a semi-fast service between London and Crewe, which will eventually be extended to Liverpool, allowing the Liverpool-London Virgin expresses to reduce the number of stops made in the Midlands.

davidhiggerson