TRANSPORT union RMT called today for Northern Rail to be stripped of its franchise after another weekend of delays and cancellations.

General secretary Mick Cash said that the company was “lurching from crisis to crisis” after the latest chaotic weekend.

“They are a disgrace and should be kicked off the tracks,” he said.

Last week the company blamed “staff making themselves unavailable” for the chaos — drawing a swift rebuke from train drivers’ union Aslef.

Yesterday the firm blamed “crew shortages.”

Mr Cash said: “It is a scam to try and cover up the fact that they simply don’t hire enough workers to fill their rosters and want to run services on the cheap to pump up their profits. ‎

“That is exactly why they are trying to axe guards on nearly half a million trains a year.”

Northern Rail is owned by Arriva, a subsidiary of Germany’s state-owned operator Deutsche Bahn.