(02 Jan 2020, 5:42 pm)Jimmi wrote From a regular user on the Bishop Line, whilst some cancellations occur at times (especially on weekends), the North East side of the network isn't too bad although could be better, the bulk of the issues have come from Yorkshire and the North West where services are being cancelled mostly due to members of train crew being unavailable and sometimes lack of serviceable trains being available.

I'm not quite sure what stripping them of the franchise is going to achieve as it's unlikely the current issues can magically be resolved. The increase of services and the need for more trains in this franchise was always going to be a struggle but delayed delivery of new trains and cascades certainly haven't helped them.

Trying to get a train from Seaham/Sunderland to Newcastle on a weekend is almost impossible. Various times the trains have stopped with the conductor saying no one is to get on because it's too full. No replacement coach, nothing. Just stranded. But this was going on before the days of Arriva Rail North. Sunderland is alright because you can still hop on a Metro - Seaham, however, is a nightmare