Lord McLoughlin, Chair of Transport for the North, Responds to reports that Northern Powerhouse Rail is to be “axed”:

“We will wait to see in two weeks’ time what the Autumn Statement says, but the Chancellor made clear in his first statement to the House of Commons last month that he sees capital spending as vital to a credible economic growth strategy; and as TfN’s research has shown, on those terms alone Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is beneficial to both the national and northern economies.

“In addition, the last Conservative manifesto was clear on its commitment to build NPR. And furthermore, the Transport Select Committee recommended in August, that the government should revisit the evidence base for the decisions that were made on NPR in the Integrated Rail Plan, and the Chair of that committee then is the new Rail Minister.

“TfN Members are clear that building NPR in full via Bradford is the best option to provide the solution to the capacity constraints on our rail network and underpin the long-term sustainable economic growth for our region.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch blames train cancellations in the UK on the PRIVATISED RAIL MODEL:

"Britain's broken privatised model has been exposed for being completely inadequate to the needs of running a modern railway. Companies that make huge profits from the industry and charge exorbitant fares to passengers are trying to blame staff for their shortcomings.

"The railway has a chronic shortage of staff and runs on goodwill and overtime. Only by removing the private companies and having a fully joined-up nationalised railway system consulting with the rail unions, can we begin to have an efficient railway fit for the 21st century.

"Instead, the UK Government intends to cut billions of pounds from the network while continuing to allow private companies to make millions of pounds in profit from the railways."