Northern Rail 'could be split up' amid nationalisation plans

[T_i_B]

To think that people were voting Conservative in the general election in order to say no to nationalization policies proposed by Labour!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/12/25/northern-rail-split-ministers-lay-ground-nationalisation/

https://www.cityam.com/northern-rail-could-be-split-up-amid-nationalisation-plans/

The government is said to be plotting a break-up of Northern Rail as part of a radical plan to renationalise train services in northern England.

Northern Rail, which is run by German operator Arriva, would be split into two franchises – North West and North East – under plans drawn up by Whitehall officials, the Telegraph reported, citing industry sources.

The break-up is expected to pave the way to bring the troubled train operator into public ownership as early as 31 March.

In October transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government was considering plans to bring the operator back under state control – a move that has been backed by lobby group Transport for the North. Shapps told the cross-party transport select committee that he had asked for proposals to take over the franchise from the government’s so-called Operator of Last Resort (OLR).

[comradebillyboy]

1. Sometimes the government needs to intervene to keep

important public services functioning.

[T_i_B]

2. That's the opposite of what the Tories have been telling us

And they've been telling us that nationalisation is the most terrible thing ever for decades.

If Northern Rail does get split into Eastern and Western divisions it will be interesting to see how the different divisions fare. Especially given how bad their reputation is out Lancashire way. And there is the whole question of what involvement Liverpool and Manchester regional mayor's would have. Essentially there's a lot of things that need to be sorted out for nationalisation to work well.

[comradebillyboy]

3. Boris is also saying nice things about NHS as well. He doesn't care

about the rules.

[T_i_B]

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.