Northern localism urged to improve rail service

Organisations from across the region – including the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (SYITA), Metro in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester – have backed plans that would see greater powers passed down from the Government for the running of the local rail network.

They have written to Westminster to express approval for plans to devolve power to a new body, the Rail in the North Executive (RiNE), which would manage the local network and help to draw in badly-needed investment.

The authorities are calling for a new pan-North of England rail franchise which would merge the present Northern and TransPennine Express franchises.

Research shows that combining these two could save £7m to £10m a year and see revenues rise by £3m to £5m a year. This could be reinvested to raise standards.

Mick Jameson, chairman of SYITA, said: “Compared to places down south, the North of England tends to get a raw deal when it comes to investment. These proposals would mean we would have more powers to invest in our local railways. That’s got to make sense.

“The best people to run the local rail network are the people who use it day in, day out. That way it can best respond to what local people and local businesses need.”

Mr Jameson believes that if implemented the new arrangements would offer greater scope for local businesses, authorities, communities and developers to influence what investment decisions are taken.

He said devolution would deliver four key objectives: Supporting economic growth through better capacity and connectivity; improving the quality of the railways; making them more accountable to local people; and delivering a more efficient railway which could grow revenue and reinvest to make it even better still.

Councillors and MPs in the region have long complained the amount spent per head is just a fraction of that in the south.

Of the trains running in the Northern franchise 87 per cent date from the 1980s or earlier, while more than 75 per cent of Southern’s trains are from the year 2000 or later.

The Government is expected to announce its final decision on how rail devolution might work in detail later this year.