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Northern Rail is set to be stripped of its franchise following years of poor performance, the Transport Secretary said today.

Tory Grant Shapps told the BBC he has started the process that could result in removing the firm's routes, calling its service "unacceptable."

It comes after a year of chaos and cancellations across the network - and on the day rail fares were hiked by an average of 2.7%.

Some long-distance commuters saw the annual cost of getting to work increase by more than £100 on Thursday despite fewer than two-thirds of trains being on time last year.

Last year, Northern's on-time statistics ran at 57% - giving commuters just over a one in two chance of their train running on time.

Asked why he doesn't just strip the firm of its franchise, Mr Shapps said: "Well, I've already announced to Parliament that I've kicked off the process called a request for proposal to do exactly that.

"It's completely unacceptable to have a situation where trains almost routinely don't run to a routine, don't run on time. I simply will not put up with that and I've already kicked off that process and I'll be saying more about it very soon."

(Image: PA)

The 'request for proposals' was issued in October. It could lead to either the routes being nationalised or a short-term contractor put in place to get the service up to speed.

Asked to clarify if Northern Rail were not fit to operate the service, Mr Shapps said: "Absolutely the case. I do not think the service being operated on Northern - actually also on TransPennine on this holiday and several of the other routes - is anywhere near acceptable.

"And I've already said in Parliament, I've already explained the actions that I've been taking. I've not been resting on my laurels with this one.

"Because I just don't think it is acceptable. I've been a long-suffering commuter myself for many years and I don't think it's right that people can't always rely on their train services, particularly in places like Northern where it's been notably bad, I will absolutely bring that situation to an end."

Asked if his intention was to remove Northern Rail's routes, he said: "That's right. In the autumn I wrote to the necessary parties in this with what's called a request for proposal.

"And that's simply where you take action. There are a couple of ways that can go. But one is to strip a franchise, one is to have a short term contract.

"But yes, exactly as you've said, I'm simply not prepared for the service on Northern to carry on as it is and I am taking action."

A DfT spokesperson said: “As the Transport Secretary said, he has started a process which would either strip Northern of its franchise or issue a short-term contract to them.

“We are taking action to ensure passengers in the North get a better service and we will provide an update in due course.”