No timetable from Number 10 for end to Northern rail misery
May faces fresh calls to act as Labour leader focuses on departure from EU
DOWNING STREET has refused to set a time limit on when Theresa May expects rail timetabling misery to end despite the Prime Minister being urged by Tory MPs to bring “appalling” delays and cancellations to a halt.
The Government expects “steady improvement” until passengers “get the service they deserve”, Mrs May’s official spokesman said after Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday.
The Transport Secretary is currently working with Northern, Govia Thameslink (GTR) in the South and infrastructure operator Network Rail “on a constant basis” as part of efforts to get fewer cancellations and more trains running.
Northern rail passengers continue to face widespread delays and cancellations, despite the introduction of an interim timetable to replace the botched scheduling changes on May 20 which initially caused the chaos.
At PMQs, former Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said Network Rail, which has been blamed for delayed engineering works, GTR need to “get a grip” of the situation.
The Tory MP for Chipping Barnet said: “Can I urge the Prime Minister to do everything she can to ensure that Network Rail and GTR get a grip and bring to an end appalling delays suffered by my constituents on the Great Northern line.”
Mrs May responded: “I absolutely recognise the problem that passengers have faced and it is that passengers have been let down. Delays that passengers have been experiencing are unacceptable and that’s why we need to take immediate action and that’s what the Department for Transport is doing.”
Tory MP Henry Smith (Crawley) pleaded with the PM to bring an end to both the rail misery and Brexit “without delay”.
Speaking after the session, Mrs May’s spokesman said: “I think what she’s clear on is that people are suffering from unacceptable delays, they are enduring miserable experiences as they try to go on trips, as they try to get to work.
“We have been clear with all the parties involved that we want to get timetables back to normal as quickly as possible.”
Pressed on whether the PM wanted a return to normal timetables within weeks or months, the spokesman went on: “We want to see the disruption reduced as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Northern Powerhouse Partnership attacked Jeremy Corbyn for focusing on Brexit instead of the timetabling chaos in the Commons, while criticising Mrs May’s “limited comments”.
Its director Henri Murison said: “It was disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition did not focus on the rail crisis for commuters, and that the Prime Minister did not give any firm commitments to the North.
“This is a national problem; getting into Northern cities is taking employees hours to make journeys that should take a fraction of the time. Productivity is being hit at a time when business growth should be driving it up.”
Separately, Rail Minister Jo Johnson told MPs from Greater Manchester yesterday that he “shared the frustration” of Northern passengers. He said the rail industry would “imminently” set out more detail about the eligibility requirements for the special compensation scheme announced on Monday.
Describing the causes of the problem, he said Northern had been forced to carry out re-planning of rolling stock, staff rostering and driver training after Network Rail was unable to deliver a vital electrification scheme on time. He said: “Before trains can operate on new lines, drivers have to undergo essential safetyrelated route training. For Blackpool this meant re-training 400 plus drivers from all depots who operate this route, and as a consequence some drivers were unavailable for their normal train driving duties while they were undergoing this training.
“To make a difficult situation worse, Northern found they were unable to ask their drivers to work on their rest days for the last three months of this period because [train drivers’ union] Aslef had declined to extend the rest day working agreement which ended in February.
“This meant that Northern haven’t been able to absorb those exceptional or last minute training needs and provide the extra flexibility for the train driver rosters that they needed.”