Emails between government transport officials outlining how to 'handle' northern passengers when their rail routes are axed have been branded a 'disgrace' by the MP for Wigan.

Revealed by Wigan MP Lisa Nandy , the emails, said to be between officials at the Department for Transport (DfT), cite 'valueless' northern routes, 'propagating myths to divert public attention' from major route changes and 'handling' passengers with 'sops'.

During an explosive Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Nandy claimed the documents prove the Government was aware of the 'impending chaos' on Northern Rail services well in advance.

It has been suggested since that the emails do not actually refer to the timetable, but relate to a more general discussion of the Northern Rail franchise.

If this is the case, they could still be seen as a damning indictment of the way Northern passengers have been treated by Whitehall officials.

If they were found to relate to the Northern timetable, they would contradict a statement from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in which he said a board made up of Network Rail, the Office of Rail and Road, the operating firms and an independent panel were overseeing the timetable for two years but failed to raise the alarm.

The DfT has also insisted throughout that they played no role in signing off the timetable detail, which was in the hands of Network Rail.

But Ms Nandy said: “After four weeks of Northern Rail chaos, passengers in the north of England have had enough.

“The Government has said Network Rail didn’t deliver and that Northern wasn’t prepared.

“But I have been handed emails from within the department for transport that show that ministers and officials were warned of impending chaos as long ago as two years ago.”

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Describing the emails as a ‘disgrace’, she added: “In them officials describe key northern routes as valueless, discuss classic handling strategies for Members of Parliament, discuss whether to throw a sop to northern passenger groups and debate whether to propagate myths in order to divert public attention from agreed planned route closures.

“Will the Prime Minister explain to this house why she has witheld this key information from us and from the public or is she so incompetent she literally has not got a clue what is going on in her own government?”

The Prime Minister responded by insisting no government would respond to claims made about leaked documents they had not seen.

She added: “Can I also say to the Honourable Lady that in advance of the timetable changes that took place for both Northern and Govia in May there was a separate independent panel set up by the Department for Transport to reassure the DfT about the nature of those plans.

“The Honourable Lady may shake her head but that independent panel was set up and that independent panel advised the DfT.”

The latest development in the Northern saga follows months of cancellations and delays across the region.

The Department for Transport has maintained throughout that it only learned of the timetable crisis at a late stage. Northern Rail boss David Brown has also insisted the true scale of the problem did not emerge until ‘two days before’ the new timetable was released. Problems have been blamed on delayed Network Rail electrification and its knock-on impact on a behind-schedule driver training.

A DfT spokesman said: "We do no comment on leaks."

A spokesman later added: "These emails are nothing to do with the current timetabling issues being endured by Northern.

"The emails are more than two years old and relate to the wider design of the Northern franchise and deciding which trains were most needed to best serve the passengers in the region.

"The excerpts quoted relate solely to a decision over whether trains from Southport would stop at Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Victoria and have no further implications beyond that individual route.

“It is deeply regrettable that a DfT official used inappropriate language and that matter is being looked at."

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