𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Like Julius Caesar, Andy Burnham arrived in the capital today to seize power. But unlike the Roman dictator, he journeyed by train from Manchester to London, and, surprise, surprise, it was apparently around 19 minutes late. Passengers can claim compensation if their service is at least 15 minutes late. But I doubt the former Mayor of Greater Manchester will bother, as he looks set to be pretty busy making plans for his premiership.

Thie livestreaming of a train making its way to London Euston, as the country’s media eagerly awaited Mr Burnham’s arrival, was surreal. I regularly travel on the line to and from my parents’ house in the Midlands. If you’re really into your politics the journey to London was significant enough to be worth watching. But its late arrival, despite who was on board, also acts as a metaphor for the tragedy that was Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as Prime Minister.

The Labour leader promised change at the 2024 General Election, and I, for one, was optimistic that things would actually improve as I stood outside Downing Street the morning after the result was declared, having had no sleep, owing to reporting overnight from the counting of ballots in Barnet.

But the rest of the nation and I have been left disappointed. We are rightly proud of our railway network – the first to be built in the world. But the ageing infrastructure is out of date and needs fixing. Some journeys are downright infuriating and unpleasant. Rail travel should be pleasant and seamless.

As well as being brought up to date, it needs to be made ready for the future, with cutting-edge technology rolled out. HS2 is a national embarrassment, made all the more frustrating as it had so much potential. The line just going between London and Birmingham borders on being pointless. It was a very selfish move from Rishi Sunak, as he sought to improve his own poll ratings. As a bare minimum, it should go to Manchester – Mr Burnham’s stomping ground.

He has promised to revive the leg if he becomes the Prime Minister. Fingers crossed. We are put to shame by other nations. Japan, for example, is light years ahead of us, and plans on further improving its network with a “floating” magnetic bullet train, connecting Tokyo and Osaka with a one-hour journey. Labour had a chance to install a competent government and sort out our railways.

Great British Railways is a promising development, but new data has suggested that in 2025-26, only 66.7% of trains across Britain arrived on time (within one minute of their scheduled arrival). This is the lowest since 2019-20, when 64.97% of trains arrived on time.

The Transport Secretary – who knows if she will be for much longer – Heidi Alexander, said after GTR was brought under public ownership in May: “As we set up Great British Railways, we’re putting passengers first, fixing what’s broken, and delivering a railway people can rely on – one that rebuilds trust, regenerates communities and delivers the high standards passengers expect and deserve.”

Mr Burnham’s journey today should serve as a valuable reminder to him that there is plenty of work left to do.