A council leader has revealed that rail operator Northern has, ironically, cancelled a meeting to discuss its frequent cancellation of trains to East Lancashire.
Cllr Phil Riley revealed the fact to Blackburn with Darwen's full Council Forum meeting on Thursday, provoking laughter in the chamber.
He will now meet Northern's chief operating officer Matt Rice on February 7 to discuss the 'terrible' frequency of non-running services on the East Lancashire Line, particularly on Sundays.
Cllr Mustafa Desa, leader of the 4BwD official opposition group, asked Cllr Riley: "On the Northern train service, have there been any updates?
"And have you been able to tease out what the reasons for the cancellations are?
"Is there sort of one particular reason or are they multiple?
"Is there anything that is being looked at or addressed to make sure the services are resumed?"
Cllr Riley, who is also on the board of Transport for the North, said: "Cancellations on the trains are terrible and continue to be terrible.
"I have arranged another meeting with the chief operating officer of Northern.
"It should have been this week. He's cancelled to hold it in about two weeks time.
"The situation isn't getting any better at all.
"I am regularly shown examples of the departure board at Manchester Victoria with everything cancelled. It's dreadful.
"The concern that I have got is that - because the same issue is obviously affecting places like Manchester and I have put this to the Northern boss - I wouldn't like to think that we are being discriminated against so that they can make a better job of serving Manchester.
"That's not right. The service is absolutely dreadful."
In his written report to the meeting Cllr Riley said: "Before Christmas, I held a meeting with the chief operating officer of Northern to express significant concerns regarding frequent cancellations to trains from Blackburn station.
"Train services play a critical role in supporting the local economy, education, employment and leisure.
"The level of service is simply not good enough and requires intervention from government to resolve.
"However, I was encouraged by Northern’s recognition of the seriousness of these issues and their agreement to work closely with us and other key partners to make improvements.
"I’ve asked for regular meetings with the chief operating officer to keep the issue high on his agenda.
"I’ve also spoken in very strong terms about the impact of these failures at meetings of Transport for the North and will continue to do so."
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