Rush-hour relief for fed-up passengers

FED-UP train passengers enjoyed some relief today when extra carriages were put on rush-hour trains after the closure of the Oldham loop line.

Rail users have endured chaotic overcrowding on neighbouring lines into Manchester since the Oldham loop closed on October 3.

But now Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) has stepped in to pay the costs of running two extra carriages on five trains.

The new move started today on the 8am Rochdale via Mills Hill to Victoria and the 5.28pm return service.

From next Monday, there will be two extra carriages on the 7.20am Greenfield via Ashton to Victoria service, the 5,27pm return route and the 5pm Victoria to Rochdale via Mills Hill service. Rail expert and Oldham councillor Richard Knowles has already lobbied parliament about problems and is demanding the Government fulfils its promise to deal with overcrowding.

He said: “I welcome GMITA footing the bill for these extra carriages.

“Without this intervention the chaotic overcrowding would have continued as no-one else was willing to pay these costs.

“As a daily rail commuter, I know how terrible these overcrowded trains are. It is not acceptable for people to be squashed like sardines and, even worse in some cases, being left behind as the trains are full.”

But rail commuter Eileen Smith, who travels from Springhead to Manchester, said: “It’s a nightmare. Journeys by train are like something from an out-of-control football crowd.

“As an alternative, I tried the bus from Lees. It stopped nine times before we got to Oldham bus station.

“And by the time I reached my final destination the bus had made a total of 44 stops and took over an hour to get me to work.”

She added: “On another journey, I travelled by train to Manchester from Mossley with a relative but scores of people pushed in front of us with even more packing in at Ashton. The conductress couldn’t move to take fares.

“If the train had done an emergency stop we would have been crushed. There are some real health and safety issues on journeys.”

Councillor Knowles, a university lecturer, said the wider problem of overcrowding is due to the dramatic growth in rail use in the North over the past few years.

He claims the Government has failed to fulfil its public commitment to deal with overcrowding by providing Northern Rail with 182 more carriages and Trans-Pennine Express with 42 more carriages.

He added: “Even harder to understand is in July the Government cancelled a proposed national order for 200 new diesel rail carriages.

“They must — without any further delay — fulfil their public promise to order more carriages for these rail services.”