Greater Manchester Mayor turns heat up on Northern Rail

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has written to Transport for the North calling for an investigation into Northern Rail, claiming the franchise could be in breach of the its licence.

In a damning letter, Mr Burnham brands the service “dire” and claims he’s been bombarded with complaints about Northern’s service from “long-suffering commuters”.

Mr Burnham said: “A series of missed deadlines and examples of serial poor performances has led to travelling by train across Greater Manchester a misery for many.”

He now wants an investigation into Northern Rail in a bid to see if the company has, indeed, breached the terms of its franchise deal.

“Enough is enough,” said Mr Burnham.

“Northern Rail passengers, the people of Greater Manchester, deserve so much better than the dire service they have been forced to endure in recent months.

“I’m calling for TFN formally to assess whether Northern is in breach of its franchise agreement.”

In November, Mr Burnham wrote to Northern and described the situation as “completely unacceptable.”

Last month, in further correspondence with Northern, Network Rail and the Secretary of State for Transport, he called for immediate action to be taken to improve services.

Data shows that Northern has recently missed its targets for delays and cancelled services, including double the number of anticipated cancellations during March.

In addition, several public commitments made by Northern to Greater Manchester passengers have not yet been met, including:

Increased trains per hour between Manchester and a number of Greater Manchester and other locations

New route options and connections to new destinations

Sunday timetables to be enhanced offering additional services on some corridors

Refurbished bi-mode trains operating between Manchester Airport and Windermere and Manchester Airport and Wigan North Western

Refurbished electric trains operating between Manchester and Preston via Bolton

The people of Greater Manchester communicate with the Mayor via social media, highlighting their negative experiences of train travel.

One commuter told the Mayor: “This morning’s train into Manchester is as ridiculous as ever.

"Doors keep jamming and if someone doesn’t pass out due to heat and overcrowding it will be a miracle! Please hold Northern to account.”

Another added: “On a daily basis we have to put up with the incompetence and frankly dangerous overcrowding on Northern Rail trains.

"When are you going to help us @MayorofGM? We deserve a public transport system that can do the basics!”

Mr Burnham added: “How can it be right that Northern presides over a service on which dangerous overcrowding in rush-hour is the norm, to such an extent that we know passengers have been taken ill?

"What accountability exists for an operator so persistently failing in its duty to deliver a reliable, safe service?

“The time has come to increase pressure on Northern to start delivering for its customers.”