THE new operators of the TransPennine rail franchise took over from Arriva earlier this year with promises of service improvements. Passengers no doubt looked forward to those improvements, thinking that things could not be much worse than under Arriva.

Sadly, the events of the last week have shown these hopes to be misplaced. The First Group has taken the axe to its services and nobody is entirely sure about the company's explanation. A variety have been offered including leaves on the line, unreliable trains and recalcitrant drivers.

The way the announcement of the introduction of a "temporary timetable" was handled was dire. At the beginning of the week many travellers were not aware of the changes and the company compounded the problem by suggesting that some services dropped from the timetable might run after all.

Northallerton and Thirsk, in particular, have precious few stopping rail services at the moment. To lose these trains, if only temporarily, further undermines the confidence of the travelling public in the service.

The cynical might suggest that this is part of a deliberate campaign to rundown the service to the two towns, to discourage travellers from using it so it can ultimately be abandoned.

We are sure that is not the case, but travellers could be forgiven for thinking it was so.