Metro Mayors call for Northern to be stripped of rail franchise 'as soon as possible'

Credit: PA

The Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region have called on the Transport Secretary to terminate Northern’s rail franchise "as soon as possible".

The call comes 12 months after timetable changes caused widespread chaos for passengers in the North West of England.

Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram say "the North is no longer prepared to put up with a second class service".

Timetable changes last summer caused widespread disruption and crowding across the network. Credit: Dr John Hindley

Announcing their call, the Metro Mayors say they believe Northern has "consistently failed" to show they are able to take the action needed to restore public confidence in the service, or to deliver their franchise requirements.

They say that from December 2018 to April 2019:

The call comes 12 month's after timetable changes caused widespread chaos for passengers in the North West of England. Credit: PA

The Mayors also accused Northern of failing to resolve the RMT industrial dispute - which saw 46 days of strike action.

They are now urging the Department of Transport to implement an ‘Operator of Last Resort’ and bring in a new board and team of directors to run the company as soon possible.

The North West's Metro mayors say the region has been afforded a second-class service. Credit: PA

Both Metro Mayors called for the rights of Northern staff must be protected under these new arrangements - saying they have worked hard in difficult circumstances.

The Mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region have called on the Transport Secretary to terminate Northern’s rail franchise Credit: PA

The RMT union say they "welcome" the call for the services to be brought back into the public sector.

They will be "seeking immediate assurances" that jobs, working conditions and pensions of members will be protected.

In response, Northern said they are "working hard to improve the performance and reliability for customers" following last spring's disruption - which they say was caused by delays to work outside their control.

They say cancellations are down "dramatically" since last May's timetable changes, with almost 9 out of 10 services now arriving within five minutes of their scheduled time.

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