This morning, Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced that he has set the wheels in motion for Northern Rail to potentially lose it’s franchise to operate in the region.
Following months of campaigning by Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham, the transport secretary announced on BBC Breakfast this morning that he has recommend that Northern be stripped of its franchise following ‘unacceptable’ customer service.
Speaking this morning on BBC Breakfast news, Mr Shapps was asked by BBC presenter Charlie Stayt why the government hasn’t formally yet removed Northern Rail of its franchise. He replied that he has set the wheels in motion by announcing to Parliament that he has to do exactly that he has called for a proposal that will “do exactly that.”
Mr Shapps explained:
“It’s completely unacceptable to have a situation where trains almost routinely don’t run to a routine, don’t run on time. I simply will not put up with that and I’ve already kicked off that process and I’ll be saying more about it very soon.”
The Transport Secretary said a new white paper is to be published. He went on to cite a new fund for trials for flexible fares as an example of how the government was committed to “putting passengers first” in a year of “change and transformation”.
The watchdog’s director, David Sidebottom, said:
“After a year of pretty poor performance in some areas, passengers just want a consistent day-to-day service they can rely on and a better chance of getting a seat.”
He encouraged passengers to claim compensation for eligible delays in order to “offset” the cost of fare rises, that have increased by 2.7% from today.
In 2018, the government set up the Williams Rail Review to recommend the most appropriate organisational and commercial frameworks to support the delivery of the government’s vision for the railway. Led by independent chair Keith Williams, the Rail Review’s recommendations will be implemented from 2020.
Just a few days ago, Andy Burnham, responded to The Future of Rail report, published by transport charity Campaign for Better Transport, which examines the current failings of the railway network and examines what steps the government should take to get rail back on track.
Following another year of chaos on the North of England’s railways, Andy said:
“I welcome this latest report which underscores the need for major change on our railways and reaffirms the bold vision I have for rail in Greater Manchester so that we have more local control over the franchising system.
“There is now consensus that the privatisation has not worked and needs a shakeup, as we continue to see chaos right across the network. For far too long people have faced rising fares whilst operators continue to deliver sub-standard services on a daily basis.
“The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to improve transport in the North – it is beyond time that the government stripped Northern of the franchise and set a deadline for TransPennine Express to improve.”
In September, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) published a masterplan to double the number of rail journeys in the city-region by 2040.
Our Prospectus for Rail sets out a bold vision to transform all rail services and rebuild passenger trust in trains. The Prospectus outlines a step-change in the role of rail to support the region’s planned growth, including the need to double rail passenger numbers to 200,000 in the regional centre by 2040; increasing rail journeys to Manchester Airport by 100% and moving towards a minimum standard of four trains per hour service from stations.
Arriva won the contract to operate Northern Rail in 2016 which was due to continue until 2025.