Northern Rail set to be nationalised ‘this week’ amid franchising chaos
Northern Rail could be renationalised as early as this week, as the government tries to contain a period of chaos on Britain’s railways.
The franchise operator, Arriva, is thought to be gearing up to hand the franchise back to the government’s Operator of Last Resort (OLR).
Earlier this month, transport secretary Grant Shapps said the franchise was on course for a full-scale financial collapse within months.
As a result, he said he would decide whether to give Arriva a new “short-term management contract” or whether to nationalise the franchise by the end of January.
Arriva, which is part of Germany’s state-run transport giant Deutsche Bahn, won the nine-year contract in 2016. It is thought to have poured about £300m into trying to improve the franchise.
But Northern Rail has been plagued by delays, cancellations and strikes. Just 82 per cent of trains currently arrive on time, down from 91 per cent two years ago.
The network runs from Newcastle to Leeds, Liverpool, Hull, Manchester and Stoke. It serves more than 100m passengers a year.
Shapps is thought to be planning an announcement on Wednesday. The news was first reported by the Sunday Times.
Last week, the transport secretary also declared South Western Railway financially “not sustainable”.
Once he has made his announcement on the future of Northern Rail, he will face a similar choice with South Western just weeks later.
Should Shapps give Northern Rail to the OLR, Arriva would become the second operator to be stripped of a UK rail franchise in less than two years.
Chris Grayling, Shapps’ predecessor, took the East Coast mainline back from Virgin and Stagecoach in June 2018.
The period of upheaval comes as the Department for Transport prepares to rip up the current franchising system through a long-awaited review into Britain’s railways.
The reforms, written up by former British Airways boss Keith Williams, are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
They are expected to hand the state a significant amount more control in the day-to-day running of the railways than it currently has.
Also on Shapps’ plate is the government’s imminent decision on the future of the HS2 high-speed rail line.
If they go ahead with the project, it could cost as much as £106bn before it is finally completed more than 20 years from now.
Main image credit: Network Rail