'Appalling' verdict on North's railway services must be heard in Whitehall: The Yorkshire Post says

Sir John Armitt is a man who chooses his words carefully and the National Infrastructure Commission he chairs has been noticeably supportive of the Government’s controversial Integrated Rail Plan which fell short of what many Northern leaders had been hoping for.
By YP Comment
Published 27th Mar 2023, 08:30 BST

So when he uses the foreword to the NIC’s latest progress report on the country’s infrastructure challenges to highlight the “appalling state” of the North's rail services, those in Whitehall should really be sitting up and taking notice.

His comments come against a backdrop of record national levels of train cancellations in 2022 despite the fact that fewer services were scheduled to run that in pre-Covid times. Labour shortages and extreme weather were cited as some of the reasons for the problems.

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In the short-term, the future of TransPennine Express as a franchise operator is in serious doubt with a Government decision due on that issue in May.

There were a record number of train cancellations in 2022 due to issues like labour shortages and extreme weather.There were a record number of train cancellations in 2022 due to issues like labour shortages and extreme weather.
There were a record number of train cancellations in 2022 due to issues like labour shortages and extreme weather.

But medium and long-term planning is also a growing concern.

The HS2 leg to Yorkshire has already been scrapped and further delays blamed on inflation hitting construction costs are now due to affect the Birmingham to Crewe phase as well as getting trains to central London – the entire point of the project.

Meanwhile, the prospect of Northern Powerhouse Rail being delivered in full rather than the reduced version the Government is currently pursuing currently seems remote.

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The NIC report says that the Government must “demonstrate staying power” by remaining committed to delivering HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

So far, the signs are not good. Immediate action on current problems and longer-term thinking on the wider challenges are both required.

Related topics:GovernmentNational Infrastructure CommissionNorthIntegrated Rail Plan