Warning to failing train firms as Northern Rail renationalised

TROUBLED Northern Rail is to be renationalised, the Transport Secretary announced yesterday.

Grant Shapps said passengers have ‘lost trust in the North’s rail network’ and warned that other failing operators could also face a Government takeover.

The state-owned Operator of Last Resort (OLR) will run the Northern franchise under the name Northern Trains from March 1. It is taking over from the Germanowned firm Arriva, which had been due to run the franchise until 2025.

Mr Shapps has ordered civil servants to prepare a 100- day action plan to turn around the crisis-hit network, which serves 108million passengers a year.

Northern’s 2,800 daily services are vital for commuters travelling to cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull.

But the services have suffered from years of strikes, delays and cancellations. In May 2018, the botched introduction of a new timetable saw thousands of trains axed.

Official figures show only 56 per cent of Northern trains run on time, and this week, the operator was rated the worst in the country in a survey of 28,000 passengers.

Critics say the track used by Northern has suffered from decades of under investment and also point to strained relationships with trade unions.

Mr Shapps has promised ‘a top to bottom’ review of the network’s many problems, but warned it could take some time to fix them.

‘It’s no surprise that passengers have lost trust in the North’s rail network,’ he said. ‘The service provided by the rail network in the North has failed to meet the needs of passengers. People across the North deserve better, their communities deserve better and I am determined to achieve that.’

The Department for Transport said improvements will begin with the introduction of a fleet of electric trains on the Manchester to Leeds line. Officials have promised to lengthen platforms at 30 stations by the spring, allowing longer trains to run.

Boris Johnson vowed in last October’s Queen’s Speech to scrap the ‘ broken’ franchise model, introduced when the rail system was privatised in the 1990s, in favour of a new commercial model.

The future of strike-hit South Western Railway, run by FirstGroup and MTR, is also under threat after Mr Shapps said the franchise was ‘not sustainable’.

In a written statement to Parliament, he acknowledged that his announcement about Northern Rail ‘will inevitably raise questions about the future of rail privatisation’.

He accepted that ‘change is needed’ and said the Government- commissioned rail review led by former British Airways boss Keith Williams will ‘ensure customers are at the heart of the system’.

Chris Burchell, managing director of Arriva’s UK Trains division, said: ‘A new plan is needed that will secure the future for Northern train services. As such, we understand the Government’s decision.’