YP Letters: Better service for Northern rail customers

I WRITE in response to letters regarding the recent rail strikes here in our region.

After years of under investment, our modernisation plans are set to provide rail passengers with the services they want and deserve. These plans will ultimately deliver easier journeys for commuters and leisure travellers – underpinning the economy, creating jobs, and will make the North a better place to live and work.

By 2020, everyone travelling on Northern will benefit from a £580m investment in 98 new and 243 refurbished trains. Our plans will mean more services, an increase in peak time capacity and faster city connections through our new Northern Connect network.

Modern train technology means that drivers will have the capability to control the opening and closing of doors. This process, which is known as Driver Controlled Operation (DCO), exists on more than a third of the UK’s main line railway network and has been in existence for thirty years.

But importantly, whoever operates the doors is entirely separate from how Northern might choose to staff trains with a second person in the future. That is why we want to talk with the RMT to discuss the future roles and responsibilities of our employees, some of whom are members of the union.

Northern has been clear from the outset: our modernisation plans do not include cuts to jobs, pay or safety standards. They are about looking to secure jobs and pay for the long-term, as well as delivering real benefits for our customers.

From: David Cavill, Horsforth, Leeds.

CAN I take this opportunity of congratulating your newspaper on the reporting of Flying Scotsman reopening the Settle to Carlisle railway?

The events demonstrate the importance of railways for the future and, in particular, to promote Yorkshire to the world.

Defying the speed limit

From: John Redfearn, Whitby Road, Pickering.

IN support of Edward Grainger (The Yorkshire Post, March 27) on dangerous drivers, I live on a piece of road no more than a mile in length on which the 30mph limit is continuously broken.

Drivers of all kinds of vehicles seem bent on defying the speed limit. The length of road in question begins at the roundabout in Pickering where the A170 crosses the A169 to Whitby.

Traffic first meets the school crossing then it increases in speed passing a care home and cemetery until it reaches a 40mph sign at the new housing estate. There are no reminder 30mph signs on this stretch of road. There has been a request for a solar-powered 30mph sign but none forthcoming.

I have written to the Chief Constable twice and received a reply for the second letter. Apart from an infrequent radar check, nothing else has been done. Perhaps the punishment is not severe enough. If a licence ban for a second offence is given for six months, it may make offenders take notice.

From: A Hague, Bellbrooke Grove, Harehills, Leeds.

I HAVE just read a national newspaper explaining what you can’t do while driving with a mobile. It tells of cars and motorbikes but not a word about cyclists. I know

from my own cycling that police never stop cyclists for anything under the sun but I see them talking on mobiles every week, so can they get away with this as well?

TV charges are a scandal

From: Jamie Lee Covey, Headingley, Leeds.

A RELATIVE is currently a patient fighting cancer on the Bexley Wing of St James’s Hospital. She has been a patient now for four months, and because of her treatment and various problems she has endured, she finds it difficult to move out of her bed and so is in there almost every hour of every day.

My issue is her having to pay £10 a day to watch television. Now whether she puts the television on or not, the 24 hours start from the moment of payment, on or off.

Why are cancer patients having to pay ridiculous sums a week when prisoners get free television in our prisons? It seems so unfair. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts and opinions.

Life of Riley for columnist

From: Derek Holroyd, Mill Rise, Skidby, East Yorkshire.

IF all your correspondent Tom Richmond has to complain about is Five Live sports presenter George Riley, there cannot be much wrong in the world (The Yorkshire Post, April 1).

Call to honour war veterans

From: Val Slater, Member of the Middleham and Dales Local History Group.

IS a member of your family listed on the First World War veterans’ plaque in Coverham church or Carlton Memorial Hall? Would you like to have his story recorded as part of a project to commemorate the centenary of the end of the war?

My grandfather, Richard (Dick) Walls, served with his four brothers. He didn’t do anything extraordinary after the war but he had survived, albeit with a small injury, to contribute to his community. Dick’s place – and your relative’s place – in history shouldn’t be forgotten.

So whether you know very little about your ancestor or you have a treasure trove of anecdotes, please get in touch. We can help with researching war records and the amount of information included will be up to you. It is hoped that by November 2018 we can produce a display and a booklet in memory of these men. I can be contacted via [email protected]