Struggling UK rail operator Northern, owned by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Arriva, will be put into public ownership in March because of its substandard punctuality and reliability record, UK Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said in a statement on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) Struggling UK rail operator Northern, owned by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Arriva, will be put into public ownership in March because of its substandard punctuality and reliability record, UK Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said in a statement on Wednesday.
Northern, which serves the north of England, will be taken over by the UK government's Operator of Last Resort on March 1, Shapps stated, in a move that aims to improve service for commuters in the region.
"In January I announced that the Northern franchise was no longer financially sustainable and would only be able to continue for a small number of months. I am announcing today that from 1st March the Northern Rail franchise will be taken into public ownership and the Government will begin operating services through the public-sector operator - the so-called operator of last resort," the transport official's statement read.
Shapps also pledged that weekend services will be free from cancellations, and committed to improve infrastructure, particularly around Northern's two largest hubs: Leeds and Manchester.
"The first step towards the north taking back control of its railways and its people taking back control of their travelling lives, and its economy being strengthened rather than weakened by its transport network. There will be no more leaving behind, this Government is committed to levelling up," the minister added.
Northern has faced customer backlash in recent months over the operator's poor performance. The operator's customers are the least satisfied in the whole of the UK, according to the Autumn 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey published by the travel watchdog Travel Focus on Tuesday.
A report by the Office of Rail and Road in December indicated that just 55.6 percent of the operator's trains were on time during the second quarter of 2019, in comparison to the national average of 65.1 percent.
The UK's Operator of Last Resort took over services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh in 2018 after the previous operator Virgin Trains East Coast defaulted.
