transport

Northerners Schedule Day of Complaining About Rubbish Trains

By Gary Cutlack on at

People who suffer on the rail network in the north of the country are being urged to take part in a coordinated mass moaning session, orchestrated by a think-tank that says the top two-thirds of the country needs a £59bn investment to get its rail infrastructure up the the level of the south.

IPPR North is behind the campaign, which says that despite the "Northern Powerhouse" hoohaa created by the government from its riverside London base, little real impact has yet to be seen on the north's duff rail links. So people should coalesce around a date and use the day to batter MPs, radio phone-ins and the media at large with their northern transport horror stories in an attempt to shame the government into listening.

It's such a serious issue that there's a petition. 68,000 people have signed it so far, with measures demanded being a "Crossrail North" to link Leeds and Manchester, that £59bn please, and a devolution of power to Transport for the North so it can do all the fancy stuff that Transport for London is always getting in the news with.

There doesn't appear to be a scheduled date for the moan-a-thon yet, though. [38degrees via Guardian]