A Northern Rail strike and a bank holiday weekend of chaos affecting the north of the UK has prompted renewed calls for a train trouble-shooter.
As rail passengers suffered a weekend of travel chaos, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has reiterated calls for an independent trouble-shooter to get the region’s railways back on track.
Rail passengers faced a long weekend of disruption on the region’s railways with Northern Rail strike forcing the cancelation of scores of services on Sunday – the fifth weekend in a row.
This, combined with the start of a nine-day closure on the Bolton line, industrial action last Saturday, and the closure of Euston station over the Bank Holiday weekend affected services from Manchester to London, throwing railway services into further chaos over a busy holiday period.
Earlier this summer, Transport for the North wrote to Chris Grayling calling for the appointment of an independent person to oversee the operational delivery of train services and rail infrastructure in the North, and bring in accountability across the rail industry.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
“As we come to the end of a summer of misery, it feels like rail services have now hit rock bottom. This has been one of the busiest weekends of the year, with thousands of people travelling to sporting events, music festivals and on holiday. But with no rail service to rely on, the public were left to find alternative ways to travel.
“What is so frustrating is that I and Northern leaders have repeatedly been raising this issue for months with no meaningful response from the Government. But we will not go quiet until the passengers of the North get the rail service they deserve.
“That’s why I again call on the Transport Secretary to urgently appoint a trouble-shooter to come in, bang heads together, and get the failing train services of the North back on track.”