GM mayor calling on May to sort out yet more rail chaos

BURNHAM DEMANDS THE SACKING OF TRANSPORT SECRETARY AND NORTHERN’S LOSS OF FRANCHISE

GREATER Manchester leaders have called for the transport secretary to be sacked and Northern Rail to be stripped of its franchise after its performance slumped again last month – despite its emergency timetable.

Yesterday, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham went a step further following another day of disruption - writing a letter to the Prime Minister asking her to intervene over ‘chaos on the railways.’

Inviting Theresa May to Manchester to meet affected commuters, he wrote: “Despite repeated requests, I do not believe the Transport Secretary has been sufficiently engaged in resolving these problems.

“This leaves me with no option but to escalate the matter and ask you to intervene personally.”

At an earlier meeting, one council leader branded Northern services ‘worse than the third world,’ while a second accused secretary of state Chris Grayling of ‘hiding away’ from the problem. New figures tabled to the region’s combined authority came just two days before the phased reintroduction of Northern’s chaotic timetable this morning. The data shows that, despite emergency schedules introduced across the north last month, more than one in four Northern trains are still turning up late. More than 1,000 trains were also cancelled in that time, while many more have been running with fewer carriages, leaving huge crowds of Andy Burnham passengers standing on platforms.

Trafford council leader Andrew Western called for Mr Grayling’s head to roll, a demand backed by Tameside council’s leader Brenda Warrington.

Other town hall bosses also piled in, branding the continued failure as ‘appalling,’ ‘shocking’ and ‘unacceptable.’

Meanwhile, Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese said ongoing chaos also proved the need for expansion at Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations - a decision that had been ‘sat on ministers’ desks for two years.’

The M.E.N. also reported earlier this week that Manchester has the most overcrowded trains in the country, according to the latest government figures.

Northern Rail and the Department for Transport have been asked to comment.