ST Helens MPs have urged transport bosses to take action over the rail chaos affecting thousands of travellers across the North this week.

Commuters have faced disruptions throughout the week, with numerous  services delayed and cancelled.

The travel chaos comes after new timetables were released this week, although a shortage of drivers has also contributed to the disruption.

Marie Rimmer, MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said commuters have been “suffering an increasingly shoddy service” from Northern in recent months.

She said: “The timetable changes to Northern rail services this week have led to chaos, misery and frustration for many of my constituents travelling to Manchester, Liverpool and beyond who have already been suffering an increasingly shoddy service in the past few months.

“It will no doubt be putting jobs at risk due to punctuality issues and will also be affecting commuters’ work-life balance as their journey home lengthens.

“I know of at least one of my constituents who has already lost his job this year, directly because of the poor service Northern are providing, and unfortunately I fear there may be more."

The Labour MP said the current service simply "isn't good enough" and urged transport bosses to take "urgent action".

"I urge Transport for the North and the Transport Secretary to look at this franchise, assess whether Northern Rail are in breach and take urgent action in the interest of thousands of travellers across the north who deserve better.”

Conor McGinn, Labour MP for St Helens North, said he has raised the issue with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.

He said: “Rail users in St Helens and across the North are increasingly frustrated at the alterations and, cancellations and generally poor and unreliable services from Northern Rail.

“I’ve raised the concerns of local commuters directly with the Transport Secretary and Labour has urged him and the Government to take firm actions and sort our railways out.”

The MPs' comments come a day after Metro Mayors of Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham respectively, held a conference call with the Transport Secretary.

The Metro Mayors said in a joint statement that there remains “significant disagreement” between them and the Secretary of State on the cause of the problems and where responsibility lies.

The pair said an action plan must be created and said Northern should lose its franchise if improvements are not made.

“Chaos on the North’s rail network has been so extreme and so prolonged that as a company Northern have lost the benefit of the doubt,” the statement said.

“They simply cannot be permitted to keep inflicting a miserable sub-standard service on the hundreds of thousands of passengers across our region who have had to endure dire train travel for far too long.”

Yesterday, Network Rail and Northern announced they will be commissioning an independent report to scrutinise the preparations and processes leading up to the implementation of the new timetable.

David Brown, managing director of Northern, said: “We are doing everything we can to minimise cancellations and delays and keep our customers informed.

“It has been difficult for many of our customers and I am truly sorry for this.

“There is urgent work to do to fully understand what did and didn’t work on all aspects of planning and delivery of the new timetable.

“We are committed to working with Network Rail and Northern stakeholders to deliver the services our customers expect and deserve.”