YP Letters: Let down by Northern Rail over compensation

YORKSHIRE businessman Sir Andrew Cook was lucky when he wrote recently in praise of Northern Rail’s customer service.

I wrote two months ago about my day trip to Morecambe with Northern Rail on March 22, 2018. I decided to catch the last train back to Leeds at 19:08 only to arrive at the station to find that it had been cancelled, leaving 13 passengers stranded on the unmanned station.

One of the other stranded passengers provided us with information on the compensation scheme for delayed or cancelled trains:

Delay of between 30 and 59 minutes – Compensation of one single ticket to anywhere on the Northern network or 50 per cent off the cost of your single ticket or relevant portion of your return ticket.

Delay of between 60 and 119 minutes – Compensation of two single tickets to anywhere on the Northern network or 100 per cent off the cost of your single ticket or relevant portion of your return ticket.

Delay of more than 120 minutes – Compensation of two return tickets to anywhere on the Northern network or 100 per cent off the cost of your ticket (single or return).

I wrote to Northern Rail to ask for the maximum compensation as they cancelled the last train of the day with no reasons given and no offer of assistance. That was two months ago and I am still waiting for a response.

From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.

SO now we have to put up with trains that are too long for the platforms because Network Rail won’t extend them (Tom Richmond, The Yorkshire Post, June 2). Who is in charge of the railways – and who allows this to happen? Oh, silly me, it’s Chris ‘don’t blame me’ Grayling.

M-way travel to London

From: RJ Bramall, Bingham Park Crescent, Sheffield.

DAVID Blackburn in his letter entitled ‘Call that a motorway?’ (The Yorkshire Post, May 26) calls into question statements made in recent articles about the opening of the new section of A1(M) motorway – pointing out that statements that ‘Motorway is now open all the way between Newcastle and London’ are inaccurate.

Mr Blackburn mentions lengths of the A1 which are not of motorway standard and, of course, he is right about that. However, via the A1 link to the M1 north of Leeds, or further south via the M62, there is now a motorway all the way from the North East to London.

It just means you have to use the M1 – like millions of others do each year.

All change in high streets

From: Coun Tim Mickleburgh (Lab), Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

JAYNE Grayson (The Yorkshire Post, May 31) wonders what is happening to our high streets, mentioning the struggles faced by M&S.

The retail sector has always been dynamic. Supermarkets like Asda and Tesco have become the new department stores, taking trade away from the likes of BHS and House of Fraser. Meanwhile people have deserted town centres to go to out-of-town retail parks, and we’ve seen the rise of online shopping.

So I foresee a lot more changes to come, mostly negative I fear!

Baffled by art pretensions

From: David Schofield, Highfield Drive, Garforth.

I ALWAYS enjoy reading the Culture supplement in The Yorkshire Post every Friday, but I’m afraid there was an item in the latest offering, that left me rather bewildered.

I refer to a painting (Top 5 Pick of the best art) by David Birkin, which depicted a number of randomly spaced red squares with white borders. It went under the heading of “Aesthetica Art Prize Winner” and was entitled Profiles.

So far so good, but then it went on to describe the interpretation of this work as “...addresses the depiction of contemporary conflict using found material as a record of the contemporary condition”. Oh really? To me it looked like red squares with white borders! Does anyone understand this arty gobbledygook, or is it just me?

To profit from sick is wrong

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

IT is totally disgusting that a private company can make thousands of pounds out of 
the sick.

While no one objects to 
paying a fee at a hospital car 
park if that fee is for the upkeep and maintenance of the park 
and the pay of the parking wardens, it is disgusting that a company is allowed to make a profit.

The hospitals should employ the wardens direct and arrange the maintenance themselves. After all, there are more than enough managers floating about, who do not have real jobs, other than managing other managers, who could fill that role easily, without the need to use a private company to do it.

Photo thanks

From: Betty Henry, Larchfield Road, Doncaster.

THANK you Andy Hutchinson for sharing your lovely photo Canalside colour (The Yorkshire Post, June 1). Our county isn’t only widespread moors and dramatic rock formations. We are good at the verdant and colourful too.

Pen poser

From: Arthur Quarmby, Mill Moor Road, Meltham.

I WONDER why young people of today are taught to hold pen or pencil not with thumb and two digits (as were we older folk), but with thumb and three? Thumb and three is ungainly and offers far less freedom of movement across the page. If you are a member of the older generation, then just you try it and see!