Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy , and other mayors in the North of
England have written to the Chancellor and Secretary of State of
Transport calling for their support in addressing declining rail
services operated by Northern.
called an emergency meeting of
the Rail North Committee - which he chairs - yesterday morning
[30 October]. It saw regional mayors and leaders seek immediate
assurances from Northern after a spate of cancellations,
overcrowding and ‘Do Not Travel' warnings on Sundays.
It's feared, without intervention, the situation could get worse,
affecting confidence amongst shoppers and travellers at the
busiest time of the year. The Committee say the situation must be
reversed in the interest of passengers and the region's
businesses, especially those in the retail and hospital sectors.
The meeting saw leaders interrogate the operator's remedial plan
to get services back to an acceptable standard as swiftly as
possible. It followed a notable spike in cancellations, with the
past week – half-term for many schools – seeing around 1,600
trains cancelled across the network - almost 10% of services -
with a lack of mitigations in place such as ticket acceptance
with other operators.
Weekend travel, particularly on Sundays, is worst hit, with
Greater Manchester now regularly seeing between 30% and 40% of
services cancelled. ‘Do Not Travel' warnings have been issued on
45 occasions on Sundays across Greater Manchester routes, in many
cases with no replacement bus services or alternative travel
methods provided.
The meeting uncovered out of date ways of working, including the
continued use of fax machines to communicate with staff,
undermining public trust in the rail service.
The Committee also heard how services were impacted by
infrastructure challenges, high staff sickness levels and the
business's reliance on staff working on rest days. This has led
to last minute cancellations and overcrowded trains.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Chair of the Rail North
Committee said:
“Efficient and reliable public transport is a critical enabler of
economic growth, a key ambition we share with the new government.
What we heard from Northern at the meeting of the Rail North
Committee was not good enough for residents and businesses across
the north.
“That is why, on behalf of the Rail North Committee, I have
written to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State to urge them
to support us to bring the service back to an acceptable level.
Significant modernisation is needed by Northern if they are to
match our ambitions for growth.
“The Committee will be closely scrutinising Northern's plan and
seeking assurance that they are addressing the points raised at
the meeting, when the Committee meets again on 20 November. We
would welcome the Government's full support in implementing the
necessary actions, especially in the urgent areas of Rest Day
Working and resolving Sunday arrangements.”
Leaders want to work with the new Government and Northern to
address the issues at hand, particularly around ensuring adequate
staff coverage to ensure a 7-days-a- week service.
Greater Manchester is also planning to bring eight commuter train
lines into the Bee Network by 2028, giving the city-region a
greater devolved role over services and creating better
integration with its bus and tram services, as well as its active
travel network.
Notes to editors
Due to performance levels, Northern were issued with a Breach
Notice in July 2024 by the Rail North Partnership – the
collaboration between Transport for the North and the Department
for Transport that oversees the contracts – with the requirement
for a remedial plan to produced and implemented. But, since then,
performance levels have dipped further.
