Railway activists will target eight stations in northern England this week in an ongoing trade union campaign to save rail services jobs.

Members of rail union RMT are in action because the franchises of two key rail services, Northern Rail and Trans-Pennine Express, are up for grabs again by privateers.

The union said the refranchising will allow operators to axe the jobs of on-train guards, shut ticket offices, reduce services, increase fares and introduce driver-only services.

The Department for Transport is carrying out what the union describes as a “bogus and rushed” consultation exercise, so RMT is carrying out its own, with a two-week programme of 50 events lobbying passengers at different stations every day.

“RMT is stepping up the fight to both inform the public and fight the savage cuts being lined up for these northern rail franchises,” he said.

Today, Hartlepool and Hexham will be lobbied, tomorrow Sunderland and Wakefield Kirkgate and later in the week Steeton, Silsden, and Middlesbrough.

Whitehaven and Bolton stations were targeted yesterday.

Acting general secretary Mick Cash said the public backed the campaign and described the refranchising plans as the “Beeching of the North” — referring to the gutting of Britain's railways by British Rail boss Richard Beeching between 1963 and 1970.

“We have been getting fantastic support,” he said.

Thousands of post cards have been distributed and the political and public pressure is growing across the region as the consultation draws to a close.”

The threatened networks serve every major town and city in northern England, including Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.