Northern under fire by Transport for the North for poor performance - cancellation target deemed 'unacceptable'

Mayor Andy Burnham has said that very little has improved with Northern since the breach notice was issued by the Department for Transport in July.

The operator was being quizzed by regional leaders and members of Transport for the North (TfN) on November 20, on a variety of issues including cancellations, do not travel notices and ticket acceptance with other operators.

Northern confirmed in the meeting that it had struck a deal with the DfT and the trade union, RMT for conductors Sunday working which Northern believes could fix its poor performance.

RMT has said it will be putting the deal to a vote with its members.

Tricia Williams, Northern’s managing director told the committee, “Whilst were not putting all our eggs in one basket, we’re hopeful that this new agreement, if accepted will really help improve performance and the cancellations – especially at the weekends.

“It will give us greater flexibility and better options.”

Both Williams and Northern's chief operating officer Matt Rice fielded questions on its short-term remedial plan. They revealed that Northern is aiming to get cancellations down to 2% and under 5% on Sundays as well as ensuring punctuality was above 90% by 2027. This target though was deemed unacceptable by the committee.

Mayor of Greater Manchester and TfN Rail North Committee Chair, Andy Burnham said: "We cannot wait until 2027. That cannot happen. We do not understand why the answers are so vague regarding improvement and we need a better working relationship to bring that target down because 2027 is completely unacceptable.”

Rice, who has been in his role since the Summer argued that change was a slow process, but it also wanted to ensure that its plan worked for the wider region and the ‘various stakeholders’ involved with the region.

“I worry about moving too fast with change and sometimes moving too fast can make things worse, so I have been deliberately conservative since I joined Northern.”

The committee also asked if Northern could commit to not issuing any further Do Not Travel Notices moving forward as well as clarifying progress on ticket acceptance during those notice periods.

Williams responded, “If this agreement comes into place, that is something we are aiming for.”

Rice added that the operator is working on improving ticket acceptance with other operators, adding, “we have day-to-day arrangements in place with Avanti and CrossCountry that is assessed when needed and longer-term agreements with LNER and TransPennine Express.

“Progress is being made with others and we’re hoping that an arrangement will be in place soon.”

Burnham though wanted better clarity on which operators were not cooperating and better communications with the public regarding Do Not Travel Notices, arguing that the public needed simple messaging on ticket validation.

“A passenger should be able to travel on any train on that day of travel if a Northern train is cancelled. That should be the bare minimum.”Northern did say that cancellations had reduced over the last two months, cancelling currently between 70-100 trains per day as well as enhancing bus provision.

The committee recommended another meeting in January with Northern and has requested milestones to be put in place to monitor performance.