Where is the leadership to fix our antiquated and inadequate railway system? - Mark Casci

Boarding the 1.45pm LNER service to Kings Cross from Leeds, I and hundreds of other passengers knew our journey would take slightly longer than normal, owing to engineering works on the East Coast Mainline. Network Rail had publicised this well in advance, pointing out that mid-week services were quieter and therefore best suited to carry out essential upgrades to the track.

It was once our journey began this slightly deviated route via Lincoln that things went wrong. The train came to a halt and, in short order, our train manager, Neil, told us that the route ahead was blocked by a broken down freight train near Peterborough. After a lengthier pause, Neil came back on the PA system to let us know what we had all feared; we were not going any further south and would have to return to Doncaster. As we drew nearer, Neil made one final address. In a voice that smacked of frustration, he let us know that our only option for getting to London that day would be to go via Sheffield or Manchester. Despite the situation being nothing to do with himself or his employer, he had the integrity to end by apologising sincerely for what he labelled a service which was “simply not good enough”.

After somehow managing to catch a service to Sheffield we were met with a sea of people. It was then and only then that we realised the incredible spectacle that there were no trains travelling between Yorkshire and the capital. Our options were to go via Manchester and arrive after midnight or go home. With heavy hearts we picked the latter.

Now before I go on, I must make clear that I make no criticism of any of the organisations mentioned so far on this journey. Network Rail has an imperative to carry out maintenance work. LNER cannot run a service on a line that was blocked and, despite Neil’s apologies, had no operational alternative than to do what it did. I do not even blame the operators of the freight train which broke down. Parts eventually wear out. Its operators will certainly have halted the train on safety grounds.

However, the reality is that, for several hours this week it was impossible for the more than five million people who live in Yorkshire to travel to the capital city. And that is a sign of a system that is broken.

It meant that our membership here in West and North Yorkshire, along with other Chambers in the region and North East, were not represented at Britain’s biggest business conference.

But this is not just the whining of some businessman who was inconvenienced. Thousands shared the same fate.

On our trip we were sitting next to a couple from Indianapolis in the United States who were due to fly home having spent a couple of days visiting York. They needed to travel to Manchester to then board a flight to the capital. Their experience of our country’s infrastructure will, doubtlessly, have been a poor one.

While travelling from Doncaster to Sheffield I heard a business leader making frantic phone call after frantic phone call, desperately trying to rearrange her firm’s operations for the week after they were unexpectedly scattered across the country. Another lady, planning on visiting her grandchildren in Peterborough, was coming to terms with the fact that she would not see them before bedtime despite promising as much that morning.

It should not take a simple mechanical failure to segregate Yorkshire from London. When HS2 was first posited it was sold far too much on the faster journey times and less on its central benefit in that it would massively improve our capacity beyond the Edwardian levels we have now. Thanks to the loathsome Integrated Rail Plan this benefit is now being denied to Yorkshire at the expense of the rest of the country.

Whichever way you look at the situation, the current railway system is not fit for purpose. The personnel working in the numerous agencies and companies are trying to make the best of it but are ultimately trapped in a failing system.

Soderbergh’s quote is a genuine lived experience for us all and one we know to be true. The question is, where is the leadership to fix it?

Mark Casci is head of policy and representation at West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.