MP to present Bill to make it easier to sack failing rail companies
Written by John Williamson on 10/10/2018
South Lakes MP Tim Farron will today [10/10/2018] present a Bill to the House of Commons which would make it significantly easier for the Government to strip failing rail companies of their franchises.
Tim has repeatedly made the case for Northern to be stripped of its franchise after a summer of chaos on the railways in South Cumbria.
The Bill comes less than a month after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) warned “no-one took charge” during the timetable chaos and blamed a lack of “responsibility and accountability”.
Tim said: “The Office of Rail and Road’s recent report found the main reason behind the summer of chaos on our railways was a lack of accountability. Liberal Democrats demand better.
“This Bill would mean that the Transport Secretary would no longer be able to shy away from being ultimately responsible for making sure people have a decent train service.
“It would also mean that there will actually be consequences for those companies like Northern who continue to provide diabolical services and treat their customers as nothing more than cattle.”
