Northern response to the RMT safety claims surrounding 13 March timetable

A spokesman for Northern said: “We are doing everything we can to keep people on the move during the strike action planned for 13 March and will be operating around 40 per cent of our normal timetable. The services we will provide are based on the availability and location of Northern employees who are trained conductors. Wherever possible, we are also focussing services on our busiest routes into major towns and cities.

“Our managers, who are acting as conductors on strike days, are fully trained and competent to carry out the duties of a conductor. They have been assessed in line with our conductor safety standards. The vast majority of our managers carrying out these duties are already in operational roles, and they are regularly assessed in line with our safety standards.

“Modernising the journey of our customers means we have to make changes and we want to continue our talks with RMT to deliver that.”