Greater Manchester Mayor Labels Northern Rail Services “Embarrassing” Amid Performance Concerns

The mayor of Greater Manchester has characterized rail services in the north of England as “embarrassing,” a statement made after an emergency meeting convened to address their substandard performance. Earlier, the Rail North Committee had met with executives from the rail operator Northern to discuss a “big deterioration” in service quality. During this meeting, it was also disclosed that Northern utilized fax machines internally to communicate rail service cancellations to its staff and crews. Andy Burnham remarked that it was “no wonder” passengers were receiving late notifications of cancellations, while Northern indicated its intention to eliminate fax machines. Northern explained that its current methods for conveying messages and information to crews depended on faxes, but confirmed plans to cease their use, though a specific date for this transition could not be confirmed at the meeting. This information emerged after 155 Northern trains had already been cancelled for Wednesday, contributing to over 1,000 services cancelled during the half-term period. Following the meeting, Burnham asserted the need for substantial reform. He stated: “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 had previously attributed impacts on staffing levels to the expiration of a rest day working agreement and claimed it was diligently working to enhance train crew availability. Burnham had earlier informed BBC Breakfast that residents in the North could no longer rely on the trains, describing the situation as “ruining people’s lives.” He further commented: “We’ve seen a big deterioration in performance of Northern Trains in recent months, they need to be held to account.” He added that “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.” Politicians had previously requested Northern to outline an action plan to re-establish an acceptable level of reliability for passengers in the period leading up to Christmas. Burnham emphasized that the government must ensure that enhancing rail services in the north is a primary concern. During an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he contended that the rail industry was hindering progress in the north and negatively affecting businesses. He stated: “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 confirmed that they had held meetings with Northern leaders twice since taking office. A DfT spokesperson declared: “The transport secretary has been crystal clear – poor rail performance will not be tolerated.” The spokesperson added that “Ministers continue to hold operators and Network Rail to account to tackle ongoing cancellations and delays plaguing passengers.” Furthermore, they noted: “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 requested a response from both Northern and Network Rail. Northern operates services throughout the north of England, serving regions including Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyne & Wear, and Northumberland, in addition to parts of the Midlands.