Northern rail franchise to be nationalised after 'two years of misery and mayhem'
The North of England's largest rail commuter service has been blighted by punctuality and reliability problems.
Wednesday 29 January 2020 16:34, UK
Struggling rail franchise Northern will be put into public ownership from 1 March, the government has announced.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the train operator had "failed to meet the needs of passengers" and the government-controlled Operator of Last Resort (OLR) will be put in charge of running its services.
Mr Shapps had warned earlier this month that "frustrated commuters will not have to wait long" before action was taken against the North of England's largest rail commuter service.
German-based franchise holder Arriva was due to run Northern until March 2025, but the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018 saw hundreds of trains a day cancelled.
Punctuality and reliability problems have continued to blight the network.
Official figures show just 56% of Northern trains arrived at stations within one minute of the timetable in the 12 months to 7 December, compared with the national average of 65%.
In a written statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Shapps said the Northern franchise was "no longer financially sustainable and would only be able to continue for a small number of months".
Ownership of Northern's rail operations will be transferred from Arriva to Northern Trains Limited, a subsidiary of OLR, he added.
"This is a new beginning for Northern, but it is only a beginning," Mr Shapps said.
"Northern's network is huge and complex, some of the things which are wrong are not going to be a quick or easy to put right.
"Nonetheless, I am determined that Northern passengers see real and tangible improvements across the network as soon as possible."
The transport secretary said the current model of privatised railways was "struggling to deliver".
He added: "Across the country a number of franchises are failing to provide the reliable services that passengers require.
"We know change is needed, and it is coming. The Williams Review is looking at reforms across the railway to ensure customers are at the heart of the system."
Northern had said it had faced unprecedented challenges outside its "direct control" such as major infrastructure upgrades running behind schedule and delays in the delivery of new trains.
Its network covers cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Northern's owner Arriva said passengers, employees and suppliers could expect operations to continue during the transfer period to public ownership.
Chris Burchell, managing director of Arriva's UK Trains division, said external factors had made the company's plan for the network "undeliverable".
"The scale of the challenges we faced outside of our direct control were unprecedented, particularly around delayed or cancelled infrastructure projects and prolonged strike action," he added.
The mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region said the government's announcement was a "victory for passengers who have had to endure almost two years of misery and mayhem".
In a joint statement, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram said: "The government must now commit to investing in much-needed rail infrastructure and work with leaders across the North to deliver the vision and funding needed to build the modern transport network that the people of our region deserve."
Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers union Aslef, said problems that had dogged the Northern network could not be solved "overnight".
He warned: "There won't be an immediate improvement because many of the systemic failures at Northern - the late delivery of new rolling stock, the cancellation by the Conservative government of infrastructure upgrades, trying to run a service with too few drivers - cannot be remedied overnight.
"Northern needs investment - the North of England has had much less than the South - and it won't be a success until significant sums are invested in modernising its 19th-century infrastructure."
The OLR already runs services on the East Coast Main Line under the LNER brand, following the failure of the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.