Northern Rail 'could be split up' amid nationalisation plans

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4. Northern rail franchise to be nationalised, says UK government

https://www.ft.com/content/42a20344-429b-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66fe

The troubled Northern rail franchise will be nationalised, the UK government announced on Wednesday, in a move that will bring a second train network under state control in less than two years. The decision means the existing Northern franchise will be removed five years early from Arriva, part of German state-owned railway company Deutsche Bahn, and placed in the hands of the government’s “operator of last resort”.

Grant Shapps, transport secretary, said the franchise, which stretches from Staffordshire to Northumberland and carries 108m passengers a year on 2,800 daily services, will be stripped from Arriva on March 1. He said it was no surprise passengers had “lost trust in the north’s rail network”. The move was a “new beginning for Northern”, Mr Shapps said, but admitted its problems were not going to be quick or easy to put right.

The operator of last resort will trial new technology to deal with overcrowding on trains as well as extending platforms at 30 stations on the Northern network to allow for longer trains, the minister said. Mr Shapps also admitted that many of Northern’s problems were down to “inadequate infrastructure” and announced a newly created cross-industry body, the North West Recovery Task Force. It will be co-ordinated by Network Rail, which owns the country’s rail infrastructure, to deliver recommendations on how best to boost capacity and performance.