The West Coast Mainline operator West Coast Partnership was heavily criticised by several industry figures over how the franchise is run at a major northern transport conference yesterday (February 23).

Held at the Liverpool Maritime Museum, the Northern Transport Summit brought together multiple opinion leaders and political figures.

One of the key topics raised was the issues experienced with the West Coast Mainline as it continues to experience severe delays, cancellations and changing timetables over recent months.

And Northern Powerhouse Partnership chair Henri Murison took aim at the ailing franchise holder after being asked how the industry can get better at rebuilding confidence.

Mr Murison said: "The fundamental point is, if you want people to use the public transport system, it needs to be reliable."

He continued: "Fundamentally, the disjointed relationship between the Department for Transport and your organisations and the workforce has led to a terrible situation which has disproportionately affected northern cities."

The West Coast Main Line cuts right through Cheshire, with lines running through most major towns within the area.

Mr Murison continued to take aim at the West Coast Partnership – who had sponsored the event, believing that the delays experienced are causing serious issues to growth.

Mr Murison said: "It has been an economic disaster that we have had these problems for the last few months and I do think, having sponsored this event, you should be really clear to apologise for what you have done to the northern economy before you start talking about how we do a repair job."

Avanti West Coast, who is the line operator, have suffered significant staffing issues, delays, and multiple cancellations with figures in January showing that one in five services had been cancelled.

The Department for Transport ordered the operator to improve its services by April 1.

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