Northern Rail franchise could be nationalised, warns Transport Secretary

The poorly-performing Northern Rail franchise could be taken back by the Government and nationalised within months, said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

This follows a statement by Mr Shapps on January 2, that Northern would be stripped of its rail franchise.

Greater Manchester’s metro mayor Andy Burnham and his Liverpool counterpart, Steve Rotheram, had led the calls for Northern to be stripped of its franchise amid rising commuter frustration due to constant cancellations and delays on the network.

Mr Shapps said: “We cannot allow this situation to continue. Essentially, it’s the end of the franchise.”

The Government said that, according to the most recent financial information it had from the operator, the franchise would only be able to continue “for a number of months”.

Mr Shapps is now evaluating a proposal from the train operator on options for continuing its franchise, one of which is taking it into Government control.

He said: “Following completion of this process I will consider whether to award ARN (Arriva Rail North) a short-term management contract or whether to ask the Department of Transport’s own operator of last resort to step in and deliver passenger services.”

Longer-term decisions on the franchise will be made in the light of recommendations of the Williams Rail Review, expected to be published shortly.

Mr Shapps added: “To clarify, the current financial position of the Northern franchise will not impact on the railway’s day-to-day operations. Services will continue to run and there will be no impact on staff.”

Chris Burchell, Arriva’s managing director of UK Trains, said: “We accept services on the Northern network are not yet good enough and we sincerely apologise to our customers for our role in that.

“Many of the issues affecting the franchise, however, are outside the direct control of Northern. Assumptions were given when the plan for the franchise was developed that critical infrastructure projects would be delivered to enable growth and support capacity demands.

“Many of these have either been delayed or cancelled. This, along with unprecedented levels of strike action, has had a significant impact on the franchise – both in terms of service and financial performance.

“These challenges will continue to affect services, irrespective of who is running them.

“What is needed is a new plan and, in that analysis, we are fully in agreement with Government. That is why the Government asked us to prepare a business plan for a shorter ‘Direct Award’.”

Northern Powerhouse Partnership director Henri Murison agreed, saying: “While there has been a great public clamour for stripping Northern of their franchise, and a belated recognition that Trans Pennine Express are just as bad, the crying shame is that whoever operates the railways in the North will struggle to run good and reliable services because of the major infrastructure issues in and out of some of our major cities.”

Pressure is now mounting on the Government to sign off hundreds of millions of pounds worth of improvements to the rail network around Greater Manchester announced by then Chancellor, George Osborne in 2014, to ease congestion and improve services throughout the region’s rail network.

It is estimated it could cost the Government a total of £800m to complete the upgrade of the region’s rail network, but it is generally accepted that unless it commits to the programme in full, services will continue to suffer, irrespective of who runs them.

Meanwhile, Roger Marsh, Chair of NP11, the group of 11 LEPs from across the North of England. and the Leeds City Region LEP, said: “The North’s 11 LEPs, represented by the NP11, will be vociferously making the case to government that commitment to HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail should be viewed as vital, in tandem, to achieve economic prosperity and continue to encourage investment in Northern businesses.

“Our Manifesto for the North, revealed in November 2019, called for a transport budget for the North, enabling full delivery of the Transport for the North plan and supporting the devolution of control and shared accountability for the region’s rail network. Any future decisions on franchises and policy decisions relating to rail, should be made with this front of mind.”