Staff are forced to use technology from the 80s to book time off

Northern rail staff still use fax machines to book time off, the train company’s boss has revealed.

The rail firm has so far been unable to use anything other than fax machines and has apologised over its recent performance.

The bizarre revelation came to light during an emergency meeting held by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham over Northern’s poor performance.

Boss Matt Rice revealed faxes are also used internally to communicate cancellations of rail services among staff and crews at a meeting of the Rail North Committee (RNC) held yesterday.

Mr Burnham said it was ‘no wonder’ passengers faced delays and said ‘the north needs better than an unreliable fax-driven railway’.

He asked how it could ‘possibly be the case in 2024’ that fax machines were still being used.

‘People will ask after decades of privatisation, where has the money gone?’ he said.

‘Where has the money gone in the rail industry given that we are still using 1980s technology to communicate?’

Mr Rice replied: ‘It is our challenge to get rid of them – it’s in our plans to get rid of them. The tools we use to get messaging and information to our crew rely on faxes, amazingly.

‘We will get there before we are forced to because fax technology, in telecoms terms, turns off.’

Mr Burnham said this gave the impression of ‘a disregard to the travelling public’, while Mr Rice admitted it was ‘ludicrous’ that the firm still used fax machines.

But Tricia Williams, the firm’s Managing Director, said Northern wouldn’t be able to get rid of the fax machines ‘tomorrow’ without agreement from trade unions.

A driver even told MailOnline how the firm offered free tablets to drivers so they could book holidays off.

The driver said: ‘The drivers were in favour of the tablets, the new system would’ve made their lives easier.

‘But the union turned it down – they wanted not just one payment but an extra payment every year. In the end, I think the tablets were given to the conductors.’

He said the offer was made when the rail firm was run by private company Arriva Rail North, prior to being renationalised in March 2020.

He added: ‘I’m all for strong trade unions but if you give them too much power they take advantage. 

‘Aslef virtually run the bloody show at Northern, and I can’t see Andy Burnham doing much to stop them as he’s a trade union man at heart.’

But this is a claim disputed by Aslef who say Northern Rail were not interested in the investment of new technology following a meeting in December 2021.

A Northern Rail spokesperson told Metro: ‘We are sorry for our recent performance and accept it has not been good enough and understand the impact this has on our customers. Cancellations are always a last resort and only applied when we have no other option. 

‘Train crew availability remains an issue in the North West, especially on Sundays which rely on crews volunteering to work additional hours. 

‘We are keen to re-introduce rest-day working for our train drivers and agree a way forward on staffing Sundays with our conductors, by working closely with them and their union representatives.’

An Aslef spokesperson told Metro: ‘We met with the company in December 2021 on the topic of moving to newer technology. The company decided not to continue with these discussions. We’re always ready to discuss using new technology.

‘It’s not the union holding up modernisation – Northern is the only company still using fax machines, as we’ve made agreements and moved forward with all the other operators. So the ball is in their court.

‘The high level of delays and cancellations aren’t caused by fax machines, though. They are down to Northern’s failure to hire and retain a sufficient number of drivers to deliver the service they promise passengers they will run.

‘Thousands of training days are outstanding and some experienced drivers are leaving the company in search of better pay and conditions elsewhere in the industry.

‘Northern needs to do the right thing and hire a full roster of train drivers to deliver a full, reliable train service for the communities they serve.’

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