Metro chairman James Lewis calls for local control of railways (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Metro chairman James Lewis calls for local control of railways

9:00am Wednesday 20th February 2013 in News

Putting control of railway franchises into local hands is one of the ways to address rail passengers’ dissatisfaction with services and conditions, according to West Yorkshire transport bosses.

Councillor James Lewis, chairman of Metro, the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, was responding to news that a report by consumer organisation Which? found more than half of train companies have a customer satisfaction score of 50 per cent or lower.

He said the current system, which sees decisions about local rail services being made by civil servants in Whitehall, was part of the problem and called on the Government to press ahead with the proposed devolution of the control of the North’s rail system to Metro and its partners.

“A recent report by the Campaign for Better Transport says that Local rail services should be managed by local authorities rather than the Govern-ment,” said Coun Lewis.