NORTHERN Rail bosses have submitted “urgent plans” to the Government in a bid to tackle poor performance on the railway.

Measures include improving driver rostering and increasing driver training on new routes to get more services running quickly as possible.

There have been complaints of disruption, particularly in the North West, following a major timetabling change.

Officials from the Department for Transport are now working urgently with the body Transport for the North and Northern.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Improving the service for Northern customers is the number one performance priority for my department.”

Northern services, which are operated by Arriva, have been hit by repeated strike action by conductors who are members of the RMT rail union and more walkouts are planned.

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has claimed more than 2,500 trains were cancelled by Northern last month.