Transport Secretary 'could have done more' to prevent summers train chaos on Merseyside

The Transport Secretary should have been more proactive in preventing the train timetable chaos this year on Northern Rail and swift reforms are needed to restore passengers' trust in the railways, according to MPs.

In a scathing report about timetable changes in May, the Transport Select Committee said the "chaotic rollout'' of alterations to services on Northern should be the catalyst for "genuine change'' for people who rely on the railways.

The MPs said Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was not fully informed of the serious problems caused by the changes, but they added it was not reasonable for him to absolve himself of all responsibility.

Mr Grayling had the ultimate authority to judge trade-offs between competing commercial interest and he should have been more proactive, said the report.

The committee said passengers most affected by the delays and cancellations should receive a discount on 2019 tickets.

Last week's announcement that rail fares will increase by an average of 3.1% added "insult to passengers' injury'', said Lilian Greenwood, who chairs the committee.

She said: "It is extraordinary, and totally unacceptable, that no-one took charge of the situation and acted to avert the May timetabling crisis.

"Instead of experiencing the benefits of much-needed investment in our railways, around one in five passengers experienced intensely inconvenient and costly disruption to their daily lives."

"There was extraordinary complacency about protecting the interests of passengers, who were very badly let down."

"The complex system by which we operate our rail services failed to cope with the scale of change planned for May."

"The Secretary of State has announced a year-long independent rail review. While the need for fundamental reform is beyond doubt, passengers cannot wait until 2020 for key lessons to be learned and reforms implemented.''

National rail timetabling need "genuinely independent'' oversight, located outside Network Rail, to avoid being affected by commercial and political pressure, said the committee.

All passengers affected by the May timetabling disruption were badly let down by the system, but people with sensory, mobility and other impairments were disproportionately affected, said the report, adding: "This is clearly unacceptable. As a matter of urgency industry and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) must take steps to ensure such a situation does not arise again.''

The report said the disruption led to a prolonged period of inconvenient, costly and potentially dangerous disruption for passengers across the north of England, London and the south.

There was a collective, system-wide failure across Network Rail, the train operators, Transport Department and the ORR, and nobody took charge'', said the MPs.

Mick Cash, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: This devastating report lays the blame clearly on the disastrous fragmentation of our railways and with Chris Grayling.

"He was asleep at the wheel of a broken, fragmented, over-complicated system that is solely of his party's creation. He has presided over a collective systemic failure and passengers deserve nothing less than his resignation.''