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Southport's MP and Northern parishes amplifies call for action over Manchester train services

THE MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley, and the Northern Parishes, met on:- Friday, 9 January 2026, and called on the Managing Director of Northern, Tricia Williams, to improve the condition of existing trains on the network and continue to take steps to ensure trains arrive on time on the Southport to Manchester line, following a productive meeting in Southport Town Xentre.

During the meeting, Patrick and Tricia discussed a range of issues facing the line, including the cost of travel, facilities and heating on board, Sunday services, the introduction of new trains, and measures taken to reduce cancellations and delays. They also discussed the reintroduction of the Burscough Curves, to ensure this vital link from Southport to Preston, Rufford and Ormskirk is reinstated.

This follows Patrick's campaign to ensure Southport and the Northern Parishes have comfortable, affordable and reliable rail services across its connections to:- Liverpool, Manchester, and Preston.

In November 2025, Patrick raised awareness of the conditions on Northern trains by live tweeting the journey from:- Southport to Manchester, and shared his findings in letters to Northern's Managing Director, the Transport Secretary and the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Northern have committed to improving performance, securing a new agreement for a 7 day working agreement to improve Sunday services, and investing in a new fleet of trains on the Southport to Manchester line.

The Labour Government has been supporting action to improve the state of the rail network by freezing rail fares for the first time in thirty years whilst wages rise, displaying punctuality and cancellation rates at each station, supporting Train Operating Companies to upgrade their existing trains, and beginning to establish integrated leadership teams between:- Northern and Network Rail as Great British Railways is rolled out across the country.

Patrick Hurley, MP for Southport, said:- "I was pleased to meet with Tricia Williams today to put the concerns of Southport's residents directly to Northern's leadership. I'm regularly contacted by constituents complaining about the price and reliability of services on this line, and I have been campaigning for change to bring a comfortable, affordable, and reliable rail service across the constituency. I'm grateful for the Managing Director's time, and I will continue to work with Northern to ensure that performance improves and residents across Southport and the Northern Parishes have confidence again to travel by train."

Tricia Williams, Managing Director at Northern, added:- "I know how frustrating the recent issues with services to and from Southport have been for our customers and the community. We have been working hard to stabilise performance and cut cancellations in recent months. There are green shoots of progress, but we know more work needs to be done before we can deliver lasting improvements for our customers. Securing a new agreement that will mean we are no longer reliant on conductors volunteering to work Sundays remains a priority. We are also working to reduce sickness levels by helping staff return to work, introducing state of the art simulators to accelerate our training programme and planning to make the largest ever investment in our fleet by introducing up to 450 new trains. We will continue to communicate openly about what's happening, and what we're doing to address these issues."