A YORK train company hit back today after an MP attacked the standard of services on the York-Harrogate line.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Phil Willis claimed in the Commons that passengers suffered constant delays and interruptions to services.

"We have the most appalling 30-year-old rolling stock," said the Liberal Democrat, who lives at Rufforth and regularly uses the service between York and Harrogate. He claimed that York-based Regional Railways North East would not invest in new rolling stock because it only had a seven-year franchise. "How are we going to get companies to invest millions of pounds in new rolling stock on seven-year franchises?" he asked. But a company spokesman said today that trains on the line were 12 years old.

And, he said, during the past four weeks, more than 99 per cent of timetabled trains were running and 93.7 per cent were punctual - both figures above passenger charter requirements.

RRNE was making a major investment in new trains north-west of Leeds, and there were plans to improve the interior of trains elsewhere.

He conceded that investments in the railways was a major issue, but the company's understanding was that an extension to the franchise was not an available option at the moment.

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