USERS of the local rail services serving the towns of Northallerton, Thirsk and Darlington will be justifiably angry about train operator Arriva's announcement this week.

The modified winter timetable simply defines as acceptable the service passengers have become to expect. Cancelled trains, late trains and trains replaced by buses have been a fact of life for users for some time. The fact that this state of affairs is "cast in stone" simply rubs salt into the wound.

Arriva has indicated it has had problems with a lack of train drivers since it took over the franchise from Northern Spirit last year.

But it is too easy to blame the previous operator. When Arriva bid for the franchise it must have been aware of this shortage, a problem which should have been addressed in its successful business plan. Whilst drivers do take time to recruit and train, there are surely other ways of finding drivers.

The body responsible for monitoring the rail operators' performance, the Strategic Rail Authority, should come down hard on Arriva. Enforcement action should be taken with a hefty fine imposed, or perhaps the franchise should be reviewed in its entirety.

Arriva has been promising things will get better ever since it took over. Passengers know it has failed to deliver and they are running out of what patience they have left.