Britain’s government renationalises Northern Rail

COMMUTERS IN THE north of England have had a miserable year. In the year to October 2019 just over half Northern Rail’s trains arrived on time and passenger satisfaction was, understandably, lower than with any other operator. On January 29th the government lost patience with the firm and announced that Arriva Rail North, the franchise’s operator, would be stripped of its franchise on March 1st, five years ahead of schedule. Under the “operator of last resort procedure”, the service will then be run by a publicly owned company on an arm’s length basis for an unspecified length of time. The East Coast Mainline was taken over in a similar way in 2018 and remains in public hands. Northern is unlikely to be the last firm that finds itself targeted by the transport secretary.

On many measures Britain’s railways look to be in good shape; both passenger numbers and freight volumes have grown at a decent clip while fares, at least for tickets bought in advance, are mid-priced by European standards. But when it comes to commuter services, punctuality rates lag behind international peers, season tickets are pricey and train cancellation rates high. For the 10% of Britons who commute to work by rail, the fact that the country operates a decent freight system is scant consolation for their regular morning delays. As services have deteriorated and reliability fallen, rail has become a live political issue. More than 50% of Britons now support renationalising the whole sector and Northern Rail’s failings anger voters in the northern English seats which turned Tory for the first time in the 2019 election.