I feel totally exasperated by the Northern Rail Debacle.

What has happened to today with the removal of the Northern Rail franchise is astonishing.

I think everyone can accept that there have been problems. Some of these problems will have been of Northern Rails making i.e. the timetable changes. However, what will taking the franchise out of Arriva’s hands actually achieve?

What will change?

We will have the same people driving the trains, the same schedulers planning the timetables. Train Maintenance will continue to be done by the same engineers.

Will the new government led organisation be able to get the new trains any quicker? – I think not.

Unions

I am sure the idiot union leaders are cheering. Why? What have they achieved? The strike action by the unions has not helped. They have caused much misery. Unions have to accept some of the blame for the situation.

Franchising is broken

It is true to say that the current franchising system is broken. This much is undeniable. We only have to look at the East Coast Mainline issues. The East Midlands Railway process was nothing short of a farce.

Nationalisation would be a disaster. Did British Rail not nearly go bankrupt and run the railways into despair? It was only the Intercity 125 that saved them.

Northern Rail is only symptomatic of failings across the industry. An industry that needs to modernise (Yes union leaders, I am looking at you!). The industry needs to work together if it is to work. Northern Rail were the victims as well as the cause for the poor service.

Limbo

We now find ourselves in limbo. A few new managers are not going to fix this. Fact!

We desperately need the report being conducted into the way the railways work to be published. Then we need, as a country, to read it and take action. I am pinning much hope on this report.

HS2 cash

We should cancel HS2 and use that cash to improve the system, especially in the North.

If the Northern powerhouse is a great as they promise, surely connectivity between Northern cities is more important than to London?

As a country, we need to speed up the agenda. Make decisions. Take action. Positive action (Looking at you again unions!)

References

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