Northern Rail to be stripped of franchise over ‘unacceptable’ performance

‘I simply will not put up with that,’ said transport secretary Grant Shapps

Northern rail is to be stripped of its franchise because of its “unacceptable” performance, transport secretary Grant Shapps has said.

“I’m simply not prepared for the service on Northern to carry on as it is and I am taking action,” he told BBC Breakfast.

It is “completely unacceptable” for trains to be “routinely” late, he said. “I simply will not put up with that.”

Mr Shapps said he had announced to parliament last autumn that he would begin the process to find a new operator for the Northern franchise.

The Northern network is operated by Arriva Rail North, which is owned by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. The region extends from Nottingham to Northumberland and from Stoke-on-Trent to Carlisle.

Passenger dissatisfaction rocketed in the summer of 2018, after a new timetable was introduced without planned infrastructure improvements being made and with insufficient drivers trained.

Over Christmas 2019, the train operator made hundreds of cancellations due to what it called “unprecedented levels of staff sickness”.

So far on Thursday – the day that higher fares have come into effect – Northern has cancelled at least a dozen trains, including links from Carlisle to Morpeth and Blackpool North to York.

At a protest against fare rises at King’s Cross station in London, the general secretary of the RMT union, Mick Cash, called for all franchises to be nationalised.

“It’s another year, another decade, yet we’re still paying for the failures of rail privatisation,” he told The Independent.

“I hope by the end of this decade we’ll get public ownership brought back in and we’ll be able to use the money we save not paying shareholders in dividends and profits, and put all the money back into the rail network.

Some problems are beyond the control of the beleaguered train firm. Many Northern trains run on the “Castlefield Corridor” through Manchester Oxford Road, where more services have been scheduled than there is capacity available.

One user, Lloyd Christmas, tweeted: “Do people not realise this won’t make a blind bit of difference? Removing the franchise will magically have all drivers trained on all new trains and routes they need to drive over?

“The training for that is happening now, so all that will happen is it will continue… no change.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “As the transport secretary said, he has started a process which would either strip Northern of its franchise or issue a short-term contract to them.

“We are taking action to ensure passengers in the north get a better service and we will provide an update in due course.”

Nigel Harris, managing editor of Rail magazine said: “I look forward to seeing the magic wand which will end the situation he rightly says is unacceptable, but which is actually at least as much the government’s fault as it is Northern’s.

“Buck will then stop with you, Grant. Bring it on.”