A "PASSENGER promise" to put rail users at the heart of decision-making is needed in the wake of last year's timetabling "debacle", according to a new report.

A review by Rail Minister Andrew Jones and Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake into the chaos in the North of England in May 2018 has made a series of recommendations.

The review, published on Friday, said the events of a year ago were "a massive failure on the part of the rail industry that led to severe hardship for passengers and businesses across the North".

The report said: "Passengers who, up until then, had been able to, for the most part, rely on train services to go about their business, lost their trust in the system.

"Basic rail services failed to operate; trains were often either late or cancelled - and when they did run they were often shortform trains, half the length of those that passengers had come to depend on.

"As the crisis developed, information from Train Operating Companies (TOCs) was poor, and passenger anger at the disruption to services was aggravated by a lack of clarity over where responsibility lay. They were understandably bewildered as to why the situation arose and whose job it was to put it right."

It also recommended greater political oversight of rail decision-making.

Mr Jones said: "Working closely with Transport for the North, our absolute priority is to deliver reliable services. This review sets out how we can work to ensure passengers get the journeys they expect, and restore trust in our railway.

"We continue to see performance improving, significant investment delivering new and refurbished trains across the north, and industry expert Richard George is continuing to drive forward a recovery plan to deliver better journeys."