Rail body to be probed on performance
Regulator warns company after it fails to improve on infrastructure projects
THE PUBLIC body which manages the nation’s railway infrastructure is being investigated over its poor performance on routes used by the North’s two biggest train operators.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it has put Network Rail “on a warning” in relation to its work in the North West and Central region of England.
The performance of Network Rail, which owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure, deteriorated in 2018 and “failed to substantially recover during 2019”, according to the regulator.
Industry figures show that in the 12 months to January 4, the proportion of scheduled train stops made within one minute of the timetable by Northern and TransPennine Express (TPE) was 55 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. This is compared with the average of 65 per cent.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps hauled the bosses of TPE, Network Rail and train manufacturers Hitachi Rail and CAF in for an urgent meeting last week to discuss their poor performance.
Earlier this month he said the Northern franchise will only be able to continue “for a number of months”, while TPE has been warned it will face a public deadline to improve.
The department is considering whether to hand a short-term management contract to Northern or to bring services into public ownership. The Yorkshire Post revealed that this decision will be made on January 29.
At a recent meeting in Leeds, Chris Burchell, managing director at Arriva, which runs the Northern franchise, said the operator’s plan issued as part of its agreement with the Government was “undeliverable” because of the failure to deliver infrastructure improvements.
It comes as the Government prepares to publish the Williams review into the future of the rail industry, which is expected to lead to widespread changes.
ORR chief executive John Larkinson said: “The top priority for passengers is that their train arrives on time and that isn’t happening consistently enough across the country.
“ORR is responsible for looking at how Network Rail contributes to train delays, and, while there are areas of very good performance such as in Wales and Western region, Network Rail’s performance in North West and Central region is not good enough. That is why we are putting the company on a warning to make sure its improvement plans deliver for passengers.”
The regulator has also looked at the cause of recent poor performance by TransPennine Express and found “it has been largely the result of train operations”.
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “For too many months, passengers – particularly in the Midlands and the North – have been coping with very poor train services. It simply isn’t good enough and, on behalf of the rail industry, I’d like to apologise. We have let you down.
“There is no quick-fix, but fix it we will, and a cross-industry task force has been pulled together to tackle the problems head-on.”
Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership which represents business and civic leaders, said franchise agreements for Northern and TransPennine were based on infrastructure like longer platforms which were not built on time.
He said: “As we await the publication of the Williams Review the time has come to give not only our great city regions with their surrounding towns more control over areas like ticketing and services, to integrate them with other public transport, but also the North collective oversight of every penny of rail investment so schemes get built – not just promised and then forgotten about in Whitehall.”
THE PERFORMANCE of rail operators Northern and TransPennine Express has, for some time now, been totally unacceptable and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is addressing this.
He will decide next week if services run by Arrivaowned Northern should be effectively renationalised – or a new short-term franchise drawn up while former British Airways boss Keith Williams completes a wider review into the railway industry.
But even the most accomplished operators in the world would have struggled to run the trains on time when Network Rail’s improvements to outdated infrastructure have run months, if not years, behind schedule.
Not only has the knockon effect been delays to the introduction of new rolling stock – drivers do have to undergo extensive training before operating new trains – but a wider loss of public confidence. And while Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy said the body would “atone for its sins” when he addressed the Great Northern Conference staged by The Yorkshire Post, the problems have persisted, even worsened, and he will both understand, and accept, the Office of Road and Rail’s formal investigation.
Yet this does also highlight the accountability vacuum which has emerged since the original decision was taken to separate the running of the rail infrastructure, like track and signalling, and dayto-day operation of trains. During his visit to Leeds earlier this month, Mr Shapps acknowledged that the industry was too fragmented and that this will be addressed by the Williams review.
But, in the meantime, commuters will be expecting Network Rail, in conjunction with train operators and others, to pull out all the stops to keep avoidable delays to a minimum so train operators – in whatever guise – can plan ahead with a greater degree of confidence and certainty.