The Cramlington and Morpeth line doesn’t normally top the league tables, but I was pleased to hear this evening, at our regular liaison call with Northern, that their North East region is experiencing the highest percentage fares revenue compared to pre-Covid, with the Newcastle – Morpeth route achieving the very highest, at 88%. These are of course December figures, so we must wait what impact the mid December encouragement to “work from home” has had, plus the January advice to go back to the office. But hopefully it will encourage timetable planners to think carefully about operational services and ensure that, when difficult decisions have to be made, Cramlington and Morpeth’s paltry hourly service is maintained. On that note, our thanks to Northern and all train operators who have a very difficult job planning crews with so many staff obliged to self-isolate. No-one likes cancelling trains, but SENRUG reluctantly concedes a planned withdrawal of a service from the timetable is better than an on the day short notice cancellation.
