Rail boss in stand for passengers

One in six rail commuters will be standing up in the rush hour if no new trains are brought in, says the operator of local services.

Steve Butcher, chief operating officer, was speaking after Northern Rail was named the best operator in the country at the Rail Business Awards in London.

Northern, which runs services through Mills Hill, Chadderton, and Greenfield, beat 13 other short-listed companies — including Manchester-based Trans-Pennine Express and Liverpool’s MerseyRail — to the title because of its improvements in reliability and punctuality.

The franchise was extended by the Government until 2013 but Mr Butcher said: “We need more vehicles or one in six will be standing. We have grown this business by 36 per cent.”

The Department for Transport caused outrage when the Oldham Loop line was closed for conversion to Metrolink by insisting that Greater Manchester would have to pay to use the 30-year-old trains even though the Metrolink conversion was saving the Government £8m in rail grants.

Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) stepped in with some emergency funding to hire back some of the trains and eventually the then rail minister Sadiq Khan travelled to Manchester to announce that they could stay in the area.

GMITA vice-chairman Councillor Keith Whitmore told a conference organised by TravelWatch North West in Manchester that his authority is working closely with West Yorkshire ITA on a bid for 100 extra train carriages.