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| - Britain's government said Wednesday it would take back control of most rail services in northern England after nearly two years of complaints about the private company struggling to serve the region. After Brexit is delivered on Friday, improving infrastructure in northern England has become a key domestic priority for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would terminate the franchise with Northern, part of the Arriva group owned by German firm Deutsche Bahn, from March 1. It is the second such re-nationalisation in two years, after the 2018 termination of the Virgin Trains East Coast contract, and follows a host of problems on the lines. "The Northern rail franchise will be taken into public ownership and the government will begin operating services," Shapps said in a written statement to parliament. "I am determined that Northern passengers see real and tangible improvements across the network as soon as possible." The network serves major cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle and carries tens of thousands of passengers a day. Northern won the franchise since 2016. It has been in the firing line following the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018, which saw hundreds of its daily services cancelled. Punctuality and reliability problems have also plagued the network. A government-controlled "operator of last resort", which already runs the rebranded east coast line, will take over the Northern franchise. Johnson has pledged huge improvements to rail infrastructure across northern England as part of the government's bid to rebalance Britain's London-centric economy. Johnson is seen also as wanting to keep on board traditional Labour voters in the north who switched sides and contributed heavily to his Conservative party securing a convincing general election victory last month. Arriva UK Trains' managing director Chris Burchell said their franchise plan to deliver more frequent, reliable and modern services had "become undeliverable... largely because of external factors". "Overall service improvements have not come quickly enough, and passengers deserve better. For that, we wholeheartedly apologise," he said. The mayors of Manchester and Liverpool said it was only the start of what was needed to fix the north's railways. "Today's news is a victory for passengers who have had to endure almost two years of misery and mayhem," they said in a joint statement. "The government must now commit to investing in much-needed rail infrastructure and... build the modern transport network that the people of our region deserve." Johnson's government said this week it would decide shortly on whether to proceed with its HS2 high-speed railway project, whose cost is reportedly set to soar to more than £100 billion. HS2, which will quicken rail journeys between London in southeast England and cities to the north of the capital, has been dogged by controversy owing to projected spiralling costs and damage to wildlife. jj-rjm/phz/har
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