Mayor of Greater Manchester responds to The Future of Rail report

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has responded to The Future of Rail report, published by transport charity Campaign for Better Transport, which examines the current failings of the railway network and examines what steps the government should take to get rail back on track.

Following another year of chaos on the North of England's railways, Andy said: "I welcome this latest report which underscores the need for major change on our railways and reaffirms the bold vision I have for rail in Greater Manchester so that we have more local control over the franchising system.

"There is now consensus that the privatisation has not worked and needs a shakeup, as we continue to see chaos right across the network. For far too long people have faced rising fares whilst operators continue to deliver sub-standard services on a daily basis.

"The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to improve transport in the North – it is beyond time that the government stripped Northern of the franchise and set a deadline for TransPennine Express to improve."

In September, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) published a masterplan to double the number of rail journeys in the city-region by 2040.

Our Prospectus for Rail sets out a bold vision to transform all rail services and rebuild passenger trust in trains. The Prospectus outlines a step-change in the role of rail to support the region’s planned growth, including the need to double rail passenger numbers to 200,000 in the regional centre by 2040; increasing rail journeys to Manchester Airport by 100% and moving towards a minimum standard of four trains per hour service from stations.

Article Published: 28/12/2019 10:45 AM