LAST autumn Arriva Trains Northern made a promise to its customers, the Strategic Rail Authority and the four passenger transport executives, that it would restore the full timetable on June 2, and I am pleased to say we have been as good as our word.

This is due largely to our successful driver recruitment and training campaign - one of the largest the rail industry has seen.

I thank our customers, who have been patient while we worked to turn around the business and the inherited driver shortage. I reassure them that the team at Arriva Trains Northern is working hard to improve the punctuality and reliability of services.

Indeed, our latest passenger charter figures show that more than 99 per cent of services operated and just under 90 per cent of them arrived on time.

This is good news for passengers. However, I appreciate that strike action taken by the RMT and TSSA unions in pursuit of unrealistic pay demands continues to inconvenience our customers.

We recently made an increased offer of a four per cent pay rise, which the unions indicated rejected. It was a fair offer and a genuine attempt by the company to resolve the disputes.

We have clearly indicated we cannot increase it further. If there is no resolution, we are potentially faced with more strikes until the franchise ends in February 2003.

This would be intolerable for our customers, particularly given the improvements we have now made. However, we cannot give in to unrealistic pay demands, because the implications would stretch far wider in the industry than just Arriva Trains Northern.

Ray Price,

Managing Director,

Arriva Trains Northern Ltd,

Station Rise, York.

Updated: 10:56 Friday, June 21, 2002