The Mayor of Greater Manchester has said that the privatisation of the railways has completely failed and called for the renationalisation of the network
He said the current situation has given the worst of all worlds with passengers paying sky high fares but there is no accountability
Being interviewed on the BBC he said the thing that really annoyed him the most was that the rail companies could transfer trains the night before and yet faced no detriment to their contracts
He pointed the finger at Avanti West Coast saying that between July and September,just 39 per cent if their trains ran on time asking how that company could possibly justify that “appalling level of service
Earlier in the week Burnham offered a final ultimatum this week to Avanti and Transpennine to get their house in order, or he will be calling for the cancellation of their contracts.
“People who often paid hundreds of pounds for tickets are getting on Avanti trains and finding no seat. We were promised when they slashed the number of trains that it would bring stability and certainty to passengers. The complete opposite is the case.”
He said that the West Coast main line should ‘return to public control’ if a new Avanti timetable doesn’t solve the travel chaos
