Grayling accused of 'running scared' after pulling out of northern transport summit

Chris Grayling has been accused of “running scared” after he pulled out of a key transport summit in Manchester because it clashes with a House of Commons vote on Heathrow expansion.

The transport secretary had been due to appear at the Place North West conference on Monday alongside political leaders from across the region following weeks of rail misery for commuters.

Organisers confirmed Grayling would not attend the summit and would instead send Liz Sugg, the parliamentary undersecretary of state for transport, to give a presentation in his place.

The about-turn was condemned by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who said it told commuters “all you need to know about the government’s transport priorities”.

Instead of addressing rail issues in the north of England, Grayling is to attend a Commons vote expected to approve plans for a third runway at Heathrow. They will be opposed by a handful of prominent Conservatives including Greg Hands, who resigned as international trade minister last week so he could vote against expansion.

Lisa Nandy, the Labour MP for Wigan, criticised Grayling for choosing London over the north.

“After four weeks of rail chaos and real misery for rail passengers across the north of England, it’s unbelievable that Chris Grayling has decided to prioritise dealing with issues in London around Heathrow rather than coming here to the north of England to explain what he’s going to do to get a grip on the problems occurring under this watch,” she said.

“It’s yet another kick in the teeth for rail commuters and it says everything you need to know about the contempt with which this government holds the north of England.”

Commuters across the region have faced hundreds of cancellations and delays since Northern rail introduced a new timetable on 20 May. Northern, a subsidiary of Arriva, has blamed the disruption on delayed engineering works and a shortage of trained drivers.

The rail conference will take place days after the publication of private emails in which officials in Grayling’s department described some northern routes as “valueless”, in comments that showed “complete disrespect and contempt” for passengers, said Nandy.

The situation was made worse last week by three 24-hour strikes by some Northern staff over a long-running safety dispute about guards on trains. Earlier this month, the RMT union said it planned to demonstrate outside the Hilton hotel in central Manchester, where the meeting is taking place, as part of the dispute and what they described as the “ongoing rail franchise fiasco”.

Mick Cash, the RMT general secretary, said: “Chris Grayling is running scared. He’s scared of the passengers he’s hung out to dry and he’s scared of the staff whose safety-critical jobs his franchise shambles have left facing the axe.

“Chris Grayling may have chickened out of meeting RMT members and their supporters on Monday, but I’ve got a message for him – you can run but you can’t hide.”

Hundreds of Labour supporters are planning to demonstrate outside train stations across the country on Monday to mark the first working day of the east coast mainline being brought back into public control.

Party members wearing Grayling masks were expected to hand out fliers to commuters calling for the renationalisation of the railways following the collapse of the Virgin and Stagecoach East Coast franchise.

The vital London to Scotland service is now being run by the Department for Transport’s operator of last resort and branded as London North Eastern Railway. Its first service left Newcastle for London King’s Cross at 7.54am on Sunday.