Business leaders in north of England warn of rail chaos

Business leaders in north of England warn of rail chaos

Members of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership are warning that rail services could “collapse into utter chaos” by January unless the government takes action.

The business leaders have written to ask the transport secretary to address a crisis that they believe is “wreaking havoc”. The government also agreed that the current situation was “unacceptable”.

Juergen Maier, former chief executive of Siemens UK and a vice chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the UK government had failed to “use the levers only it can pull, to sort out or train services”.

“We are not able to continue as we are,” said Mr Maier. “If we do not get approval for a rest day working agreement to be negotiated this week it will be too late.”