Rail services in North in "appalling state", warns National Infrastructure Commission chair

Sir John Armitt made the comments in a progress report which said work towards towards major infrastructure objectives has “stuttered further just as the need for acceleration has heightened” and warned “in a range of areas government is off track to meet its targets and ambitions”.

Sir John’s foreword said there have been “some steps forward” with greater devolution for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester as well as progress on the national gigabit broadband rollout.

But he added: “There have been negligible advances in improving the energy efficiency of UK homes, the installation of low carbon heating solutions or securing a sustainable balance of water supply and demand.

"The risk of a mixed scorecard is that readers take their pick based on their own experiences or purposes. Residents in the north of England, for instance, could hardly be blamed for focusing on the appalling state of current rail services within and between the places pivotal to supporting growth.”

The report calls for a “greater sense of certainty” around HS2 following further recent delays to the project affecting the Birmingham to Crewe leg and the completion of work at London Euston. The Eastern leg of the route to Yorkshire was already curtailed in 2021 and a promised study into how to bring HS2 to Leeds is yet to start.

The NIC report says the Government must “demonstrate staying power” by remaining committed to the current plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail – which are already a reduced version of what regional leaders had been calling for.

Local leaders wanted improved connections between Northern cities from Liverpool to Hull, up to Newcastle and down to Sheffield, with a full new high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford at the heart of the £42bn proposals.

But the Government has instead committed to a £17bn plan for a new high-speed line between Warrington and Marsden on the boundary of Yorkshire that would be part of improving the network between Liverpool and York.

Northern Labour mayors have recently called for the merging of struggling train operator TransPennine Express with rival Northern following thousands of train cancellations in recent months.

Ministers are examining TPE’s improvement plan, before they decide whether its contract to run services across the North should be renewed on May 28 or the Government’s operator of last resort should take over.

The NIC report there had been record numbers of train cancellations nationally in 2022, with punctuality and industry performance figures falling despite fewer services running than in pre-Covid times.

It said labour shortages and extreme weather events have contributed to record cancellations.

The report said: "In many parts of the country, the service levels on the railway are failing the communities they are there to serve in a clear example of infrastructure services not being resilient enough to foreseeable risks.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “As this report highlights, our Integrated Rail Plan is the largest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network and will deliver HS2 from Manchester to Euston as well as Northern Powerhouse Rail. This will revolutionise transport connections across the North.

“Since his appointment, the Transport Secretary has been working closely with local leaders to improve current rail services in the North, and has made clear that operators which don't improve will be held to account.”