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Labour calls for Grayling to ‘shoulder blame’ for rail chaos

CHRIS GRAYLING should “shoulder the blame” for the rail chaos triggered by new timetables, Labour said today as it moved a no-confidence motion in the Transport Secretary.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald urged the Cabinet minister to “step up” and admit his part in thousands of passengers’ journeys being disrupted on Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

He said he regretted having to table the motion, telling the Commons: “But given the totally unacceptable state of the railways, I felt I had a duty to passengers.

“The latest chaos follows meltdown on the East Coast which resulted in a £2 billion bailout, huge cuts to promised electrification in Wales, the north of England, and the Midlands.

“This is not shaping up to be a distinguished legacy.”

Mr McDonald asked why, if GTR CEO Charles Horton has resigned over the “industry-wide failure of the timetabling process,” Mr Grayling is still in place, considering that he is “truly responsible” for the disruption.

The motion also calls for Northern and GTR to be stripped of their franchises.

Green co-leader Caroline Lucas accused ministers of responsibility for people’s lives being “wrecked” by cancellations and delays.

Labour Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner said that the transport select committee spent the whole day earlier this week quizzing Northern and GTR bosses to find out who really runs the railway and came to the conclusion that “nobody did.”

He said this left two scenarios —  that Mr Grayling is responsible and that he is not — and that either way he should be sacked.

Mr Grayling hit back saying Labour’s policy to let rail franchises run their course so that services are brought back into public control was “confused” and accused the party of “political point-scoring.”

The beleaguered Transport Secretary survived the non-binding Opposition Day vote 305-285.

Northern Rail boss David Brown and GTR’s Mr Horton told MPs yesterday that the scale of problems only became clear in the final three days before the timetable change, when drivers’ rosters were drawn up.

Northern asked in January if it could delay introducing the new timetables but arms-length government body Network Rail and other train operators refused.

Mr Brown said: “We were only piecing together the rosters and diagrams literally until the evenings and days before … the full impact of the timetable only became apparent when the timetable went live.”

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