KEIGHLEY and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has secured a meeting with the rail company Northern following the announcement of plans for cuts to services from local train stations.

Since the announcement, which Moore described as “infuriating”, he has been inundated with correspondence on the matter, including from local schools whose pupils will be affected by these cuts. This includes Bradford Grammar School, whose pupils from Ilkley rely on the 16:20 service to get home, which now faces being axed. Many other services into the Keighley and Ilkley constituency are also seeing proposed cuts to services.

Following the announcement, Moore met with Transport Minister Andrew Stephenson to discuss this, as well as request a meeting with Northern. They have now accepted this request, meaning Moore will be able to directly raise his calls for these service cuts to be reversed immediately.

Robbie Moore MP said: “This was an inexplicable decision by Northern to cut these vitally important services. As more people are now travelling for work or visiting friends and family, we should be looking to expand services, not draw them back.

"As more people are travelling to work, visiting friends and going into cities, we should be expanding services, not drawing them back. These cuts could not be more badly timed, particularly for the businesses and schools who have been able to get back to normal operations following two years of suffering.

"Having raised these matters with Transport Minister Andrew Stephenson on the day they were announced, I will now be meeting directly with Northern. I will tell them directly that these cuts must be stopped immediately, for the sake of our local schools, businesses, and all my constituents who rely on these services.”