17.08.18
Manchester council scolds Grayling for living in ‘complete fantasy’ on rail expansion delays
Manchester City Council has blasted the transport secretary for appearing to blame the city authority for delays on rail infrastructure in the city.
Chris Grayling appeared on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning where he was asked to give his view on Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s comments over the DfT’s delays to begin work on expanding track capacity across the city.
Grayling said that Burnham’s claims— such as the government holding up proposals to expand the route between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road stations— were “simply not true,” noting that the DfT had not cancelled any track upgrades in Manchester.
The transport secretary went on to say that the plans are actually being challenged by the Manchester council as it goes through the Transport and Works Act Order.
He added: “What we are actually doing is we are looking at how we can put more capacity into Manchester using digital technology to increase capacity.
“Across the North and across the Manchester area we are replacing every single train with either a brand-new train or a train completely refurbished as new with longer trains and more capacity.”
A Transport for North (TfN) meeting earlier this month highlighted doubts about returning back to full timetables in September after a tumultuous bedding in of timetables that caused chaos on the networks in May and June. Rail bosses providing services to the north said infrastructural constraints around areas like Piccadilly— where the DfT is yet to give the go-ahead for platforms 15 and 16— are holding up the process of the reintroduction of the full timetable.
Councillor Sue Murphy, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, hit back at Grayling— adding that to suggest Manchester City Council is opposed to improvements to rail capacity for Manchester is “complete fantasy.”
"We have been a strong supporter of improvements to Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations and increased track capacity to enable more services to run through them from day one. Indeed, we gave evidence in support of the scheme to a public enquiry about it and have been consistently vocal in our call for better rail infrastructure,” she said.
"Our track record in supporting improvements stands in stark contrast to that of Mr Grayling and his predecessors who have the power to deliver improvements, including the promised Northern Powerhouse rail, but have so far not demonstrated any will to do so."
Grayling has been under fire from northern city bosses recently: the 3.2% fare increase announced on Wednesday was condemned by Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham who called for a cost freeze for those travelling on Northern and TransPennine services in 2019.
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Image credit: Victoria Jones, PA Images