Responding to the news that Northern Rail will be brought back into
public ownership from March 1, IEA Editorial and Research Fellow
Professor Len Shackleton said: “It is by no means clear that
taking Northern Rail into public ownership will fix the litany of
problems facing the rail network in the region. “The
physical infrastructure remains in poor condition after years of
neglect, the rolling stock and staff will by and large remain the
same, and industrial relations are...Request free trial
Responding to the news that Northern Rail will be brought
back into public ownership from March 1, IEA Editorial and Research
Fellow Professor Len Shackleton said:
“It is by no means clear that taking Northern Rail into public
ownership will fix the litany of problems facing the rail network
in the region.
“The physical infrastructure remains in poor condition after years
of neglect, the rolling stock and staff will by and large remain
the same, and industrial relations are strained. The timetabling
issues affecting Northern Rail were exacerbated by delays in
upgrading the key ‘Castlefield Corridor’, where government
assurances of infrastructure improvements have not
materialised.
“None of this is to deny that Arriva’s handling of the Northern
franchise could have been better, but temporarily re-nationalising
the franchise is only the beginning of trying to fix the problems
with the nation’s rail network.”
