As East Coast goes off the rails questions of renationalisation in Cumbria raised

From Sunday (24) trains running on the east coast of the UK fell back under public ownership.

Operating under the new name of the London North Eastern Railway, this move comes after franchise holder Virgin Trains East Coast's (VTEC) admission it had overestimated the number of passengers it could guarantee.

With passengers in Cumbria and Lancashire suffering greatly as a result of the implementation of a new timetable in May, questions are being asked if now is the time for the state to run services on the west coast, as it does on the east.

Craig Johnston, RMT regional organiser for the north, said renationalisation would be a "perfect fit" for fractured rail services in Cumbria.

He said: "We have a very fragmented railway in Cumbria. We have TransPennine, Virgin West Coast and Northern, all operating across the north. If it was nationalised it would be one organisation publicly owned and publicly accountable, and it would save us money.

"It would be a perfect fit for Cumbria - a renationalised railway across the whole system."

Following the transfer of the east coast franchise from VTEC back into public hands, critics have pointed to this and the failure of other private operators as reason enough to at least consider renationalising other franchises.

VTEC is the third private operator to fail to complete the full length of a contract to run East Coast services.

GNER was stripped of the route in 2007 after its parent company suffered financial difficulties, while National Express withdrew in 2009.

Labour's MP for Barrow and Furness, John Woodcock, said: "The chaos has been so comprehensive and Northern’s response so woeful it does seem likely that the company has been breaching the terms of its contract and there must be a case for the government stepping in.

“If Northern cannot pull the situation around inside a few weeks, then they should be seen as unfit to run this stretch of railway.

“At that point the government should be prepared to consider temporary re-renationalisation and there is a clear precedent with the East Coast main line."

Lib Dem Tim Farron also said: "It speaks volumes that when a multi-million company starts to lose money, the Government jumps in and takes over the franchise: but when hundreds of people up here in Cumbria are being forced to turn up late to school and work, it sits on its hands.

“Nationalisation certainly isn’t always the answer. However it can be a useful tool when, as is the case for the Lakes and Furness Lines, a company are doing such a bad job. For the thousands of people that rely on it, the service should be run directly by the state at least for the short-term."

Later this week Mr Farron will travel to Downing Street to deliver a petition signed by thousands calling for Northern to be stripped of its franchise. At the onset of the rail crisis in Cumbria, The Mail too called for change, demanding a new operator took the reins to secure a reliable rail service for all Cumbrians.

However, not all politicians in Cumbria are calling for the end to the private system and Northern's hold on the Cumbrian franchise.

Conservative MP for Carlisle John Stevenson said the disruption had been unacceptable, but long term public ownership was not the answer.

He said: "I'd be very reluctant to see our services go back in to state ownership on a permanent basis.

"Over the past 20 years we have seen passenger numbers go up enormously and the level of service improve in most areas. There has been investment in the railways.

"Clearly mistakes were made [by Northern] and it was very disappointing to see what happened but there is a programme of investment coming forward and I would like to see that come to fruition."

Unions and Labour have pounced on the Government stepping in with East Coast, but, transport secretary Chris Grayling said the treasury would not lose out due to the failures of VTEC.

He said: "Stagecoach will be held to all of its contractual obligations in full."