Reduced rail timetable must not become 'new normal' for the North, Government warned

Analysis by Transport for the North showed that the two main rail operators in the North of England - TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern - have reported demand for services above the average seen nationally.

Figures released by the Department for Transport just before Christmas showed national rail use now at around 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels for the week ending December 9 - significantly below that in the North of England.

While recent storms and the Omicron variant of Covid has since depressed demand, both operators have reported to TfN’s Rail North Committee that, for months, the North has been bucking the trend with leisure travel - and this pattern had been seen well into the autumn.

Even up until Tuesday 14 December, Northern reported that demand was still at 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

The return of passengers has largely been driven by leisure trips, with commuter journeys still considerably down on pre-pandemic levels.

Rail North Committee Chair Councillor Liam Robinson said: “These figures obtained by TfN show the North is leading the charge on the return to rail, and the Government needs to recognise that now is the time to invest.

“With a bounce-back that is around 10 per cent stronger than other parts of the country, we shouldn’t now be facing the kind of resource cuts that the Government is intimating.

“Now is the time to support the rail sector in the North. We need more funding for the North of England’s railway – not less.

“If you want to level up or tackle the climate emergency, it is only made harder if you are cutting investment in the rail network.

“There is also a real concern that this reduced December 2021 timetable for the North may be seen, by the Government, as the new baseline for timetable planning going forward.

“But this timetable is a compromise needed to run a railway during a pandemic.

“It should not be a new normal.

“We want TfN to have influence over what new timetables will look like and to be equal partners in determining what services will look like in the future.

“This will be a measure of if this Government is serious about devolution in the North.”

Earlier this month, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham urged fellow Northern leaders to stand against a “period of managed decline” as the TfN Rail North Committee discussed proposed timetable changes for December 2022.

Under the proposed timetable, which is still under consultation, operators would look to cut the number of services running to and from Manchester, on various routes, due to long-standing problems with congestion on railways in the city.

Mr Burnham said the move would particularly affect passengers travelling between Yorkshire and Manchester,

A report on the plans state a return to a pre-Covid timetable would “not be permitted” by Network Rail.

The Government has offered £26m to allow Network Rail to begin work on upgrading platforms at Manchester Piccadilly, which have been identified as major contributors to the congestion issues.

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