'No-one read the manual': How Merseyrail ground to a halt in icy weather
Plus: What's On in the first week of the Easter half-term
Hello and welcome to the 24th edition of The Southport Lead.
Today’s edition looks at Merseyrail and how the £450m trains became unable to run across the entire network last winter. A mixture of poor planning and extreme weather contributed to commuters being left stranded in snowy weather last December.
A report was commissioned to find out what went wrong and how it can be avoided. The findings paint a worrying picture of how little preparation was made for the introduction of new trains and come with a warning that changes must be made.
While Merseyrail enjoys a much better reputation than Northern, and indeed has far better reliability scores, it is still reasonable to expect much better from our public transport - especially after such significant investment of public money.
Merseyrail winter fiasco will happen again if no changes are made
A repeat of the fiasco which saw passengers stranded while no trains ran for four hours in freezing weather is possible, according to the man tasked with investigating an ‘unacceptable’ Merseyrail failure.
On December 9 last year, Merseyrail was unable to run any trains when snowy and icy conditions left the tracks frozen and its trains unable to receive power. Despite having sent out test trains in the morning, its passenger services were experiencing problems by 7.30am.
By 8.05am, the Wirral line was suspended and by 9.20am the entire network was officially shut down having already run almost no services. One train was left stranded between stations for two-and-a-half hours later with passengers having no access to toilets or water.
With the operator unable to secure any rail replacement buses - having failed to identify the need to do so and with the roads becoming dangerous - passengers were left stranded in sub-zero weather. It was not until 12.47pm that the Southport line finally re-opened
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram - whose combined authority oversees Merseyrail’s operations - branded the day unacceptable and commissioned Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, to investigate what went wrong and identify how to prevent any repeats.
Among the issues identified were a failure of any single body to take overall responsibility, with Merseyrail, Network Rail and train manufacturer Stadler each only considering their own duties.
One of the key areas in which preparations for icy conditions failed was that no consideration had been made of how Merseyrail’s £450m fleet of new trains would behave differently to the old models. This meant the winter plan did not account for the differences between the previous 507/8 models and the replacement 777s.
According to Mr Everitt’s report, while the old trains would effectively remove the ice from rails as they ran, the 777s are designed to lift up from the third rail when they struggle to receive power in order to protect their electrical systems from serious damage.
Effectively, no-one had read the manual for the new trains when drawing up a plan for icy conditions and had not foreseen this problem.
This oversight was added to by the ineffective use of an anti-icing agent by Network Rail. Although it had received warning about the best ways to use this in the previous winter, it did not take these into account in 2024/25.
Mr Everitt has issued a series of recommendations which Mr Rotheram has promised to implement in full, while Network Rail says it has also already begun making changes. Failure to do so, the inspector warned, means a repeat of that day can be expected.
He said: “As things stand, a repeat of the weather conditions experienced on the morning of 9th January is likely to produce the same outcome and so action is necessary to further mitigate the risk of that happening”
In a joint statement, Merseyrail, Stadler and Network Rail said: “We welcome the findings of the review of the disruption on the 9th January 2025. As the report makes clear, Merseyrail is a well-managed and high performing network.
“It’s right, therefore, that when things don’t go to plan that we review and learn from them.
“Merseyrail, Network Rail and Stadler are committed to working closely with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, to ensure that the plan for winter resilience is the best it can possibly be.”
After the publication of the report, Mr Rotheram said: “Despite some early teething problems, Merseyrail has returned to being the best-performing rail network in the country - but even the best systems can have bad days.
“The disruption on 9 January caused serious inconvenience for passengers. It had to be a line in the sand which is why I stepped in to convene partners and commission an independent review. While the network is fragmented and we don’t operate the trains, we still have a responsibility to hold those who do to account.
“I’d like to thank Vernon Everitt for his comprehensive, honest and no-nonsense report. Collectively, we’re accepting all of its recommendations and we have already begun working with Merseyrail, Network Rail and Stadler to put them into action - from improving planning and communications to making sure there’s clear system-wide accountability in place.
“Through better collaboration and stronger oversight, we’re working to make sure the region’s rail network is better prepared for the future so passengers can have confidence it will keep moving, whatever the weather.”
Furniture hire scheme launched to keep councils away from debt
Sefton Council is to trial a furniture hire scheme for social housing tenants.
The local authority has approved a new scheme, initially to run for 12 months, will will enable new council housing tenants to rent essential but high cost items such as cookers, fridge freezers, washing machine and sofa.
By providing affordable access to these goods, the council hopes to help vulnerable and low income people from racking up debt or accessing high-cost credit.
Now the scheme has been agreed, the Council will begin discussion to find an established third-party company to rent and deliver items to tenants. The company will also provide installation, maintenance and replacement.
Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing said: “Furniture poverty is a widely recognised, national issue. It affects people on lower incomes and can have a negative effect on their physical and mental health. And it makes it more likely that tenancies will fail.
“By providing new tenants with the option of an affordable way of furnishing their home when they move in, we can help take away the hardship that many people face because, owing to a low income, they cannot afford the outlay for new furniture.
“We can also help reduce the likelihood that they will need to incur debt and take on expensive credit to make their homes inhabitable.
“As well as removing this anxiety and making those people’s lives healthier and more comfortable, introducing this scheme will also make it more likely that families will stay longer in their tenancies and have more stability.”
Tenants will not be able to self-refer to the scheme. Referrals will be made through support workers such as housing officers and social workers.
News in headlines
Prevent boss leaves role after Southport failings (BBC)
Ex-minister: No action taken over social media’s influence on Southport riots (Independent)
Uniform Hub opens new outlet in town centre to support families with pre-loved school clothing (Stand Up For Southport)
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What's On This Week (April 6-13)
By Andrew Brown
Don’t miss the biggest annual art exhibition in Sefton, which this year has enjoyed its biggest ever number of entries.
The Sefton Open takes place at The Atkinson in Southport and features the very best artwork submitted by artists and arts groups from across the borough. Admission is free!
You can also see one of four performances of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie by SONG.
They’re among many things you can enjoy in Southport as the school Easter holidays begin:
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