Northern rail services embarrassing, mayor says

Rail services in the north of England are "embarrassing", the mayor of Greater Manchester has said following an emergency meeting aimed to combat poor performance.

The Rail North Committee met with directors of rail operator Northern earlier over a "big deterioration" of services.

The meeting also revealed the rail operator was using fax machines internally to communicate cancellations of rail services among staff and crews.

Andy Burnham said it was "no wonder" passengers were receiving the news of cancellations late, while Northern said it was planning to get rid of fax machines.

Northern said the tools it used to get messaging and information to crews relied on faxes but it was in its plans to stop using them, although a date of when that would be could not be confirmed at the meeting.

It comes after 155 Northern trains had already been cancelled for Wednesday with more than 1,000 services cancelled over half-term.

Speaking after the meeting, Burnham said substantial reform was needed.

He said: "They are waiting on an agreement from government to get rest day working agreements in place so not all of this is under Northern's control but a lot of it is."

Northern has previously said the expiry of a rest day working agreement had affected staffing levels and it was working hard to improve train crew availability.

Burnham earlier told BBC Breakfast that people could no longer trust the trains across the North and it was "ruining people's lives".

"We’ve seen a big deterioration in performance of Northern Trains in recent months, they need to be held to account," he said.

"People in the north of England should not be expected to put up with a substandard service. People here should no longer be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transport.

"Everyone knows this would not be tolerated in London."

Northern has previously been asked by politicians to set out an action plan to restore an acceptable level of reliability for passengers in the run-up to Christmas.

Burnham said the government needed to ensure that improving rail services in the north was a top priority.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said the rail industry was dragging the north backwards and it was hitting businesses.

He said: "Last Sunday we had 'do not travel' notices issued for English cities between Manchester and Stoke, Manchester and Chester, that is embarrassing is it not?

"That, I think, brings the UK's northern travel system into real disrepute and it has to to be addressed if we are going to get growth happening everywhere."

Northern is owned by a holding company of the Department for Transport (Dft), and a DfT spokesperson said they had met with Northern leaders on two occasions since being in office.

A Dft spokesperson said: "The transport secretary has been crystal clear - poor rail performance will not be tolerated.

"Ministers continue to hold operators and Network Rail to account to tackle ongoing cancellations and delays plaguing passengers.

"Since taking office, the government has already settled national industrial disputes, and Great British Railways will be tasked with driving up performance and putting passengers first.”

The BBC has asked Northern and Network Rail for a response.

Northern operates across the north of England, running services in Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, as well as into parts of the Midlands.

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