A
review
has
been
ordered
after
winter
weather
caused
serious
disruption
on
the
Merseyrail
network
because
of
snow
and
sub-zero
temperatures.
Some
passengers
were
stranded
on
board
one
train
for
over
three
hours
on
9
January
after
ice
on
the
third
rail
had
caused
it
to
stall,
while
all
services
were
cancelled
for
two
hours,
which
caused
further
problems
for
the
rest
of
the
day.
Now
Liverpool
City
Region
Mayor
Steve
Rotheram
has
appointed
an
established
transport
leader
to
review
the
rail
industry’s
plans
for
winter,
and
also
to
consider
whether
lessons
have
been
learned
from
previous
years.
Vernon
Everitt
is
transport
commissioner
for
Greater
Manchester,
and
also
a
non-executive
director
on
the
Board
of
Transport
for
Wales.
He
was
previously
Transport
for
London’s
managing
director
for
customers,
communication
and
technology.
The
Liverpool
City
Region
Combined
Authority’s
Transport
Committee
has
also
heard
from
the
Mayor
as
well
as
representatives
from
Merseyrail,
Network
Rail
and
train
manufacturer
Stadler.
Councillor
William
Shortall
said:
‘It’s
winter
every
year.
Will
we
be
sitting
here
saying
the
same
thing
again?’
Stadler’s
head
of
metro
and
tailor
made
projects
Matthias
Hämmerle
said
the
trains
recently
delivered
by
his
company
could
cope
with
minus
25C,
but
without
effective
contact
with
the
conductor
rail
they
would
‘shut
down’,
although
installing
batteries
on
more
units
would
help,
while
ghost
trains
run
overnight
can
also
keep
the
third
rail
clear.
Mayor
Steve
Rotheram
said:
‘The
recent
disruption
on
our
rail
network
was
completely
unacceptable
and
had
a
significant
impact
on
our
residents
who
rely
on
trains
to
get
to
work,
school
and
important
appointments.
‘With
the
appointment
of
Vernon
Everitt
to
lead
this
independent
review,
we’re
taking
a
thorough,
impartial
look
at
how
the
rail
industry
plans
for
and
responds
to
extreme
weather.
Vernon
brings
with
him
a
wealth
of
experience
in
the
transport
sector,
and
his
expertise
will
be
invaluable
in
ensuring
we
learn
from
this
and
improve
our
winter
preparedness.’
The
findings
of
the
review
will
be
presented
to
the
next
transport
committee
on
20
March.
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you
have
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the
next
print
edition
RN336,
published
13
February.