Bernard Ginns: A great city, not that you'd know it from the train station

We must suffer this state of affairs because Northern Rail refuses to invest in ticket machines at all its stations and often does not give passengers the opportunity to buy tickets on board its trains.

Of course commuters can buy season tickets, but these don't always represent value for money, particularly if their work entails some travel by car. So commuters must stand and queue, wasting their own time, because of Northern Rail's refusal to invest.

I took this up with the York-based operator's press office, frustrated at the amount of hours of economic activity needlessly wasted.

There's also a wider point about the image this projects of the city to the outside world.

I asked Northern Rail what proportion of its 462 managed stations do not have ticket machines; how many customers it estimates are unable to buy tickets from machines on their day of travel; if Northern Rail would consider it more efficient to install ticket machines at unmanned stations rather than forcing passengers to queue at Leeds and how many customers it estimated were unable to find seats on trains at peak times? For good measure, and a sense of the bigger picture, I asked for Northern Rail's year-on-year punctuality figures and its year-on-year pre-tax profit figures.

The operator's spokeswoman pointedly refused to address most of my questions. She said: "Our franchise was awarded on the basis of no significant growth and therefore no investment in stations. In reality, we've attracted 36 per cent more passengers since the start of our franchise. We've worked with partners to improve facilities to help meet this growing demand, including ways to make it easier for passengers to buy tickets.

"We have a programme to introduce more ticket machines at stations across our network over the next few months. However, with a short-term franchise it's difficult for us to fund new ticket machines at less busy stations, but we are working to identify a way to address this and install more machines beyond those currently planned.

"For customers who travel with us regularly, season tickets offer a cost effective and convenient alternative, saving both time and money.

"We have improved the number of trains on time every year since the start of our franchise. Over the last 12 months 91.2 per cent of our trains have been on time compared to 83.7 per cent when we started in 2004."

No mention of how many stations are without ticket machines or how many of its customers are unable to buy tickets on their day of travel. The statement does, though, seek to shift the blame its lack of investment to the terms of its franchise, which is up for renewal in September 2013.

The spokeswoman also declined to reveal pre-tax profit figures on request. I wonder why? Perhaps Northern Rail's directors are worried that revealing these figures in this context might put them under more pressure to invest in more ticket machines at its unmanned stations and more carriages on its over-crowded routes.

Northern Rail is a joint venture between Serco, the outsourcing firm, and Abellio, a subsidiary of NS Dutch Railways.

I checked the latest accounts online and saw that for the 53 weeks ending January 9, 2010 Northern Rail made a pre-tax profit of 29.9m, on revenues of 614.6m.

The highest-paid director had a salary and pension package worth 218,000. The directors recommended a final dividend of 14.45m, up from 5.5m the previous year. Capital investment in the year amounted to 3.9m. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

I AM not alone in my impression of Leeds train station as an poor gateway to the economic capital of the region. A recent survey by the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce found that 63 per cent of businesses believe it does not create a good impression. Mark Goldstone, head of corporate relations, said: "First impressions matter and train stations are often the first thing that many visitors and potential investors come into contact with when visiting a particular city and it is important that the station reflects Leeds's position as a leading business hub."

The city is getting 1bn of investment over the coming years through the Trinity Leeds, Eastgate Quarter and Leeds

Arena retail and leisure schemes. Both Network Rail and

Northern Rail need to show

some support.