‘Nobody took charge’ of chaos on the railways
AN official report into the railway chaos suffered by thousands of Greater Manchester passengers has revealed ‘systemic weaknesses in the planning and delivery of major network changes’.
The report by regulators the Office of Rail and Road also found ‘the scale of the disruption to passengers was not foreseen by any party until after it had begun’.
Rail operators Northern and Govia Thameslink, Network Rail and the Department for Transport, are all singled out for criticism, with the report saying that their failings had led to a ‘collapse’ of services’
A major review of Britain’s railways has now been launched after the investigation concluded ‘nobody took charge’ and worryingly warned of ‘a risk of repeated disruption if the lessons are not learnt and acted upon’.
The government said the review would be ‘the most significant since privatisation’ and consider all elements of rail travel, and taxpayers.
The railway introduced the largest -ever revision to the national timetable on May 20, involving changes to 46 per cent of train times.
It hoped to offer more services and more reliability by bringing into use enhanced track, signalling and trains.
But, said the ORR in its interim report, ‘things went badly wrong’ in the north and other areas.
Regulators said train operator Northern failed to run 125 trains of a planned 2,510 services and its delay minutes ‘soared from under 15,000 to close to 50,000’. In the weeks following the change.
The ORR said up to 310 scheduled trains did not run each weekday during the disruption on the Northern network.
The report said: “The impact of this experience has had a significant financial and emotional cost to those passengers affected, directly impacting upon their work and families and in some circumstances their personal safety.
“This has undermined the trust in the railway and the reliance they place upon it in their lives.”
The ORR concluded Northern, Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway, the Department for Transport and the regulator itself all made mistakes and warned of a ‘lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities’.
It added: “The present industry arrangements do not support clarity of decision making. It was unclear who was responsible for what. Nobody took charge.”
The regulator’s 183page report highlighted delays with Network Rail’s electrification work in the north.
Northern were not ‘properly aware or prepared’ for the problems with the new timetables and did not do enough to provide accurate information to passengers when disruption occurred, it added.
ORR chairman Professor Stephen Glaister, who led the inquiry, said: “When problems arose, timetable planners were stretched and train operators were ill-equipped to help passengers.”
Northern has been contacted for comment.