YEP Letters: August 16

Cancelling our compensation

ME Wright, Harrogate

I’M retired and no longer subjected daily to the overpriced privations of Northern and the rest of them – lucky me!

We now learn that despite everything, the Ilkley, Harrogate and Skipton lines have not met “the agreed cancellation threshold” for compensation – suit-speak for “get lost.”

Is there a comparable performance-related “threshold” for boardroom bonuses and shareholder dividends?

A note of the extent to which these, 
largely faceless, suits and their families rely 
on the services which they are supposed to provide might be interesting; or would that produce petulant howls of “invasion of privacy”?

Expected rail fare increases: your views

Protests were held outside Leeds railway station yesterday amid mounting anger over an expected 3.5 per cent increase in regulated train fares. Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) staged demonstrations outside stations in cities including Leeds. The union claims that rail passengers are paying “through the nose” for overcrowded services. Research published this week found that the cost of rail travel has increased at more than twice the speed of wages since 2008. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media..

Harry Sutcliffe

They have just decided that they can hold us to ransom again, we suffer as passengers. The Government want us to use public transport. But then they keep upping prices and lowering services. Instead of upping prices why don’t they get staff to do their jobs? I travel from Doncaster to Wakefield Westgate many weekends. Only once in every ten journeys do I see a conductor. At the other end barriers are open, you can walk straight through. I do buy my ticket but do think that a lot of people do not. Hence lost revenue there. Get them doing their jobs. Instead of barriers being open, close them make them have to either show ticket or purchase one.

Carrie-anne Greening

My dad has dementia and for me to travel to Weston from Leeds, Monday-Thursday it’s £212 cheapest fair with two stops.

My partner booked us a four day stay in Benidorm for £186.I need to see my dad before he forgets who we are but having to travel there every other month just for a few days, I can’t afford it.

Chris Kelly

Constant price hikes and poor service continues. It’s getting to the point where it’s more economical and time friendly to drive into Leeds to work. Surely not want the government wants.

Susan Egan Nettleton Carville

Train from Leeds to Edinburgh on a bank holiday. With only a few carriages supplied, passengers were crammed in. Had to stand for four hours, including pensioners!

No space to use walkways or get to toilets. Just not acceptable. Bad planning and badly run.

Linda Keogh

Price rises every year and services don’t improve. Enough is enough.

Sarah Mclennan

This is the reason I’m on the bus. Again.

Simon Christopher Jude

There should be a reduction in view of the unacceptable services provided by the rail companies.

Angela Briggs

Prices are going up and the service they give is poor.

It’s not the staff’s fault, they do the best they can.

Darren Williams

This is what happens when companies go private. All they care about is money. Not the service. Greed, greed, greed.

Sam Walker

Protest by the RMT who are causing the strikes? Oh the irony. I’d pay 3.5% if it meant I could guarantee the train will turn up and I can get on it.

Phil Meade

Nationalise it and the buses too. The only way people bus and train companies care about is themselves and their shareholders. Public transport should be a not for profit service for everyone.

Concern over roundabout changes plan

Tracey and William Wright, by email

My husband and I are greatly concerned with the proposed changes to Lawnswood roundabout.

On the plans there is an intention to change the footpath into a joint pedestrian/cycle path.

We live at West Park , Ring Road and already negotiate exiting our property by reversing out past the gate post and hedges very slowly to avoid pedestrians.

Having cyclists using the same path going at speed would be extremely dangerous to the pedestrians , the cyclists and us.

The proposals are also looking to remove the full roundabout, replacing it with traffic light and increasing the number of lanes to four.

The traffic flows very smoothly up the Ring Road and via our property and we believe that the area that should be addressed first is the bottleneck in Headingley.

This is the part of the city that is creating the traffic flow problem.

Having lights would increase the amount of traffic stopping and starting outside our property.

It will also increase the amount of pollution to an already polluted area and cause yet more vibration to the foundations of our property.

It goes without saying that the noise will increase on an evening and through the night with the air brakes of large lorries and the emergency services sirens, thus disturbing our sleep and creating more health problems.

We can appreciate some form of crossing for pedestrians should be sought but not on such a scale.

There seems to be a mad dash to spend an obscene amount of money before 2021 without a full 
investigation as to what will improve the flow of traffic into the city centre.

Requests for the data used to qualify the proposed works have been requested from the contractor WSP but they have not been forthcoming with any information.