THE Mayor of Greater Manchester, , has responded to The
Future of Rail report, published by transport
charity Campaign
for Better Transport, which examines the current
failings of the railway network and examines what steps the
government should take to get rail back on track.
Following another year of chaos on the North of England's
railways, Andy said: "I welcome this latest report which
underscores the need for major change on our railways and
reaffirms the bold vision I have for rail in Greater Manchester
so that we have more local control over the franchising system.
"There is now consensus that the privatisation has not worked and
needs a shakeup, as we continue to see chaos right across the
network. For far too long people have faced rising fares whilst
operators continue to deliver sub-standard services on a daily
basis.
"The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to improve
transport in the North – it is beyond time that the government
stripped Northern of the franchise and set a deadline for
TransPennine Express to improve."
In September, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)
and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) published a
masterplan to double the number of rail journeys in the
city-region by 2040.
Our
Prospectus for Rail sets out a bold vision to transform
all rail services and rebuild passenger trust in trains. The
Prospectus outlines a step-change in the role of rail to support
the region’s planned growth, including the need to double rail
passenger numbers to 200,000 in the regional centre by 2040;
increasing rail journeys to Manchester Airport by 100% and moving
towards a minimum standard of four trains per hour service from
stations.
