A rail boss has told Bradford passengers to expect cleaner, safer and more reliable trains over the next 12 months.

Ray Price, managing director of Arriva Trains Northern, set out his improvement plan at a presentation to passenger groups yesterday. But he warned there would not be millions of pounds worth of investment - and ruled out plans for new stations and rolling stock.

Mr Price said the settlement of the year-long pay dispute with conductors represented by the RMT union had "drawn a line in the sand" for the company.

"We've been through a very difficult year," he said. "We have got to kiss and make up with the staff we have been in dispute with and get the team rebuilt."

Despite losing the right to run the TransPennine franchise, Arriva has secured a deal to run local services in the region for the next 18 months. And it is planning to win the contract to supply local services across the North from September 2004.

"We have 18 months to demonstrate that we are the natural choice for the northern franchise," said Mr Price.

He said the firm had recruited more than 400 staff, improved punctuality and reliability, and cut customer complaints in the last 12 months.

And he said Arriva no longer held the worst record in the UK for passing through red signals.

But he admitted the firm - which carries 180,000 people every day and is two-thirds funded by the taxpayer - still had much to do to rebuild its reputation. "Bad news gets your brand recognised," he said. "People know about Arriva. Our challenge is to turn that around and make people think positively about Arriva."

He said initiatives such as on-train cleaning teams and a new management structure would help achieve his goal of making Arriva the most improved train operating company.

His speech was well-received by delegates at the event at the National Rail Museum in York.

But Marten Lougee, of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, branded some of Arriva's trains a disgrace, claimed tickets were not checked on 50 per cent of Aire Valley services and warned the new Class 333 trains serving the Aire and Wharfe valleys were being "steadily vandalised".

Mr Price said Arriva was considering introducing CCTV on the Class 333 fleet and said he recognised there was still much to be done.