A Liverpool Council member has criticised the government over breaking promises to replace train carriages that "are not suitable for the job."
Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Makinson said that whilst he was critical of Northern Rail and had "little confidence" in their running of the route, after a train derailment near Broad Green station earlier this year, he felt the Labour government had let them down.
The member for Picton added that whilst critical of Northern Rail and having "little confidence" in those running the service between Blackpool and Liverpool, for which he is regular passenger, the Labour Government had let them down after cancelling an order for 200 new carriages to replaced the 142 Pacer model, one of which left the tracks and lost its engine in the accident.
Mr Makinson, compared the outdated train carriages to "Leyland Bus bodies attached to freight trucks" that were meant for short journeys on lesser used branch lines rather than main line use. As a result trains are said to be "dangerously overcrowded" and Merseytravel have been forced to pay for extra carriages to relieve pressure.
"The government gave these trains to leasing companies for about £1 each, claiming they where at the end of their useful lives and therefore worthless. Fifteen years later these leasing companies are still charging us £150,000 a year per train.
"Not only are passengers being ripped off, so is the taxpayer."
Last month Northern Chief Executive, Mark Barker, admitted to the council's Rail Services Commitee that leasing companies like Northern "did benefit signifcantly from the extended lifespan of such units."
Northern Rail claims to service 15m people across the North of England including routes into Liverpool Lime St as well as services across Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Northern's parent company also Serco-Ned Railways have been contracted to run trains on Merseyrail's network since 2003.
Mr Makinson criticised the attitude of the Rail Accident Investigation Board, saying it seems to be unworthy of a full investigation "because there were no deaths or injuries."
The Councillor also believes that had the accident occured at a higher speed and at rush hour, there could have been many casualties.
"This is not the first accident that has brought the safety of these trains into question. The thought that corrosion can cause the engine to simply fall off would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous."
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