The UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has said Northern Rail could lose its UK franchise due to what he says is an “appalling” performance from the operator over the last year.
The minister said on Thursday that the franchise, run by Deutsche Bahn-owned Arriva, was “completely unacceptable” and that he had submitted a request for proposal asking the operator to outline its future plans for the franchise.
If these proposals aren’t up to scratch, it is likely that the government will take over the running of the franchise as the operator of last resort.
“I’m simply not prepared for the service on Northern to carry on as it is and I am taking action”, Shapps told the BBC, adding that he did not think the current service was “anywhere near acceptable”.
When asked whether Northern would, in fact, lose the franchise, Shapps said the “simple answer to the question is yes”.
Since Arriva won the right to operate the franchise in 2015, Northern, which serves stations throughout the North of England, has been rocked by numerous complaints about the inefficiency of its services, particularly following a disastrous timetable change in May last year which resulted in numerous cancellations and delays for passengers.
Commuter anger towards rail operators has also been compounded by a 2.7% rise in rail fares at the start of 2020 despite less than two-thirds of trains arriving on time last year.
Renationalisation of Northern would follow similar action by the government over the East Coast Main Line in 2018, when it was forced to set up London North Eastern Railway after the franchise operator, Virgin, was made to terminate its contract due to financial difficulties.