I have been invited to a meeting with a number of members of Northern management on the afternoon of Thursday 10th October 2019. If any member has any questions that they would like me to ask, please either post them on here or email them to fobl.chairman@gmail.com and I shall endeavour to ask as many as I can subject to time available.
Also, Northern have capacity for up to four of us at the meeting, so if any FBL member would like to come along, please email me at fobl.chairman@gmail.com Due to the limited number of places available, this will be on a first come first served basis.
The following points have come out of the meeting:
The DfT have not yet decided who will operate the line in the long term.
In all probability, the existing rolling stock arrangements will continue until at least May. Northern have applied for dispensation to continue unmodified using class 153s on this and other lines beyond the December 31st PRM deadline. Northern are to investigate whether the current arrangement of using class 185s on the Barton branch complies with the new PRM requirements.
There is a possibility that class 156s will be introduced from the May timetable change. The delay is due to concerns from TPE over completing crew training on time.
The minor vandalism to a poster frame at Barton has been reported.
Northern have promised to get the connecting bus times at Barton right.
Northern have also stated that they will be putting their best efforts into running the line whilst they are still running it and that we should not feel they are doing the minimum until the line leaves their hands.