Rail passengers have been sharing their painful commutes home this evening as chaos on Northern Rail continues.
Despite dozens of trains being either fully or partially cancelled today, embattled transport secretary Chris Grayling was given a vote of confidence by the prime minister on Monday.
In the face of the chaos, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has called for the “chaos” to end and for Grayling’s job to be axed.
But Theresa May’s spokesman said she has “full confidence” in Grayling, adding: “We understand the anger and frustration of rail passengers in the north of England.”
While hundreds of commuters struggled to get into work this morning, it seems this evening’s journey home was just as troublesome.
Angry commuters were once again left bemoaning cancelled or late services across Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and the Yorkshire region.
A total of 94 trains were fully or partially cancelled by 3pm on Monday, according to the Northern Fail app, developed by one long-suffering commuter to document disruption on the network.
Rail passengers shared their woes on social media:
When told of the prime minister’s “full confidence” in the transport secretary, Burnham responded: “Well I don’t know how she can make that statement because we have got chaos on our railways. He hasn’t been doing his job.
“If he had been doing his job northern commuters wouldn’t be putting up with the daily lottery of not knowing whether or not they are going to arrive at work on time.”
A spokesman for the Department for Transport refused to comment on where Grayling was on Monday.
The Press Association reports that a Whitehall source said Grayling was not on holiday and would be back at his desk on Tuesday but gave no details about his whereabouts on Monday.
Northern Rail was due on Monday to reinstate 75% of routes withdrawn after a new timetable caused severe disruption in May.
In Liverpool, as the Department for Transport retweeted about the reopening of Lime Street station after an eight-week upgrade of the city’s main train hub, passengers were bemoaning the fact their trains had not arrived.