Region’s railway woes ‘could have been avoided’
THE RECENT misery on Northern rail services could have been avoided if the Government had intervened when the first signs of trouble arose in January, it is claimed.
Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said Ministers could have stepped in when it became apparent that Network Rail would not be able to deliver electrification work needed for last month’s timetable changes.
He called for devolution of power to the North to oversee Network Rail and operators.
Theresa May was urged to take steps to end the delays and cancellations yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions, while Rail Minister Jo Johnson told MPs that a lack of trained staff was to blame for the disruption.
NORTHERN POWERHOUSE minister Jake Berry has criticised Northern but defended his colleague Chris Grayling, as commuters continued to face disruption on the railways yesterday.
Mr Berry, a Conservative MP in the Lancashire constituency of Rossendale and Darwen, was speaking after 25 northern newspapers including The Yorkshire
Post joined forces to call on the Prime Minister to lead an emergency summit in Downing Street this week to find a solution to the crisis.
He said: “The performance of Northern over the last few weeks has been completely unacceptable and that is why on Monday, the Secretary of State for Transport made it clear in the House of Commons that they must come forward with a compensation package for commuters who have suffered disruption.
“In addition we have been clear that they must immediately put measures in place to minimise the current and all future disruption from timetabling.
“I know that people from my own constituency have experienced this problem first hand and that is why I have met with the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure that tackling this disruption is one of his top priorities.” He added: “I understand the concerns of readers.”
As of 3.30pm yesterday, 44 Northern trains had been cancelled or ran more than 30 minutes late, with 175 between five and 30 minutes late. Services in Merseyside and Lancashire were the worst affected.
Rail Minister Jo Johnson claimed that Northern was making progress, yesterday seeing its “best weekday morning performance considerably since the timetable change”.