Rant :- Northern Replacement Buses Southport-Wigan Wallgate

[Pyreneenguy]

Sunday 30/12 used said replacement bus between Southport and Burscough Bridge. I had intended using the bus only for our outward journey but finding it impossible to get a taxi in Burscough returned to Southport by bus. My moan: absolutely no information whatsoever at Burscough Bridge station. No electronic display. There is only an hourly service on Sundays, so I knew that a longish wait was probable. However the total lack of information is simply unacceptable. The timetable had been altered and did not correspond with the usual Sunday service i.e scheduled to depart Southport at 13.47 bus at 14.12. As it happened the buses in each direction crossed at Burscough Bridge. Credit to the driver of the Southport bus, he contacted his colleague to return to the station when a lady bound for Wigan mistakenly got on the Southport bus.

Additionally : we had an excellent meal in the Hop Vine pub ( minutes from Burscough Bridge station). Great food and beer brewed in their micro-brewery. Very busy, booking essential !

 

[modernrail]

Don't get me started. Absolute shambles at Southport as well. It's a planned cancellation mate so you know planned and all that and so we can be bothered trying to help you or put up any information other than put cancelled on the departures board.

National Rail also failed to input into their system. The attached is what I faced when tried to find a train back to London on Sunday.

I ended up in absolute dog fight with Northern on Facebook, especially when they told me trains were cancelled due to engineering works. When I asked which engineering works they said, well you know general engineering works.

I have written to the Conservative MP for Southport and suggested he might not want a Southport closed sign up and so might want to get his gibberish spouting colleague to do what he is meant to do, run the bloody railways by managing the franchise the department he is in charge of has awarded. What a moron and walking disgrace that man is. I once caught him sleeping with his SPAD on a Virgin train with their feet up on the seats on a day Southern were on strike. I didn't take a photo as there is too much of that stuff going on. I deeply regret being so restrained now.