Speaking after an interview on national radio, Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Leader of Stockport Council, said: “Stockport has been hit by a massive reduction in rail services and our zombie government, focussed entirely on picking their new party leader, is completely failing to act. We have seen our usual service decimated, with Avanti seemingly unable to staff their trains. That is on top of the disruption caused by the rail strikes on 18th and 20th August, which will mean no services at all in the Stockport area across four days.
“This is a disaster for Stockport and for the North West, at a time when our local economy is trying to recover from Covid and cope with the adverse impacts of Brexit, at a time when we are supposed to be encouraging people to use public transport to help tackle air pollution and climate change, and at a time when the council is investing £1bn in town centre regeneration based around our rail infrastructure.
“In a joint letter with the leaders of other political groups at the Town Hall, I have called on the Transport Secretary to intervene to ensure that our residents have access to the rail services they both need and deserve. To date he has not responded but his public comments seem to suggest he sees no role for the government in this latest transport crisis. This simply would not be allowed to happen in London and the South East and the government should not allow it to happen here.”
