Ministers ‘must deal with causes of problems on North’s railways’
THE GOVERNMENT has been told it must deal with the “root causes” of problems on the North’s railways as well as dealing with the symptoms, as Northern Rail is passed to Government ownership over the weekend.
The Northern franchise will be operated by the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort from Sunday but Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Henri Murison said there was more work to do.
He said: “The Northern franchise may now be back in public ownership under the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort but the Transport Secretary is only dealing with the symptom and not necessarily the root causes of the problems on our railways, which relate to infrastructure like platforms which are too short and the lack of momentum electrifying such as from Huddersfield to Leeds.
“The forthcoming Williams review must fully address issues with the franchising process in the North. In the meantime we need to make sure the gap in trains we need is filled by new ones, not hand-me-downs adding insult to injury for northern commuters.
“Otherwise we risk a situation where the North faces years more misery on its rail network – regardless of who runs the trains.
“The only permanent solution is through reform to give the oversight of both upgrade schemes and services to the North and for our leaders here to take responsibility for them.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Northern would be stripped of the franchise at the end of January.
At the time he said: “This is a new beginning for Northern, but it is only a beginning.
“Northern’s network is huge and complex and some of the things which are wrong are not going to be quick or easy to put right. But I am determined that Northern passengers see real and tangible improvements across the network as soon as possible.”
He added: “Today marks the first small step towards the North taking back control of its railways and its people taking back control of their travelling lives.”