North of England rail users hold 'day of moaning' protest

Disgruntled passengers in the north of England have declared a "day of moaning" to highlight the region's allegedly sub-par public transport services.

Public policy think-tank IPPR North is urging northern transport users to make their voices heard on TV, radio and social media over what it says is a government U-turn on its plan to modernise regional rail networks.

Last month, Grayling confirmed that the planned electrification of the Midland mainline, the Cardiff-Swansea line and routes in the Lake District were to be scrapped, deemed too expensive in light of Network Rail's spiralling spend on engineering works.

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Grayling also indicated that a planned high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds will not be completely electrified, telling the Financial Times: "We don’t need to electrify all of every route. There are places that are built in Victorian times where it is very difficult to put up electric cables."

An order of 122 new InterCity express trains meant to modernise Britain's aging railway stock will now have to be installed with bi-modal engines, which can switch between electric and diesel power to run on non-electrified lines.

"Diesel trains have higher operating costs, and are less efficient and worse for the environment than electric trains," says The Independent.

The call for a protest began after transport secretary Chris Grayling signalled his support for Crossrail 2, an ambitious £30bn project to build a new rail line across London, "days after cancelling electrification projects to northern rail lines," says The Guardian.

On its website, IPPR North said they were "incensed" that the government was moving away from its commitments to rail electrification in the north, while apparently moving closer to Crossrail 2 for London.

Northern commuters have answered IPPR's call for action, flooding social media with their transport grievances about everything from ticket prices to delays and slow trains:

One particularly sensitive topic appears to be the outdated rolling stock which still predominate on many passenger services outside of London and the south-east.

IPPR research indicating that London's transport network has been receiving more than twice as much funding per head as services in the north for the past decade also stuck in the craw of many passengers outside the capital.

The think-tank estimates that years of imbalanced spending means the north of England's transport services are due £59bn of extra investment.

More than 68,000 people have added their names to a petition started last month urging the government to hand over this overdue "catch-up cash".