RAIL passengers suffered delays and cancellations today, Monday, after a new timetable was introduced.

There was major disruption across dozens of routes as seven times more alterations than normal were made to train schedules due to new services being launched.

Northern Rail said a shortage of train drivers was to blame for problems affecting destinations such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.

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One in seven, 14 per cent, of its services were cancelled this morning, with a further 17 per cent delayed by at least five minutes.

This included disruption between Manchester and Liverpool via Warrington Central and cancellations between Bank Quay and Liverpool Lime Street.

Warrington commuters expressed their dismay with the new timetable on Twitter.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham described the situation as "appalling" and claimed Transport Secretary Chris Grayling "needs to intervene today."

A spokesman said: "Despite some cancellations, passengers will benefit from an overall increase in capacity with immediate effect."

The Aslef union said not enough drivers have been trained on new routes and rolling stock.

An official said the union had asked the company to start training drivers last summer, but it only started in February.

"Drivers are not on a go slow, they are not calling in sick, but they just have not been trained on the new routes," the official told the Press Association.

Angry passengers flooded train operator social media accounts with complaints.

One Twitter user posted a message to Northern Rail which read: "Total shambles - first day of new timetables and it's even worse than before - if that's even possible! Your service is shameful!!"

The timetable shake-up is designed to increase overall frequencies and reliability.

GTR's new timetable was developed from scratch and was designed to tackle existing issues by extending stop times at busier stations and increasing turnaround times at destination stations.

There will be almost 400 additional GTR trains every day.

Robert Nisbet, regional director at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the rail industry, said: "We'd like to thank customers for bearing with us as we introduce the biggest timetable change in a generation.

"In the long term these changes will see customers in many parts of the country benefit from more and faster services, better connecting communities and boosting the economy.

"Re-timing over 100,000 services is a huge operational challenge.

"We're working together to deliver the best possible service but continue to advise customers to check their train times before they travel."