THIS page is dedicated to the strife surrounding Transport Secretary Chris Grayling – and we did need a full page to document the various catastrophes and controversies of his reign.

And that’s before we mention last week’s cancellation of a project launched by Mr Grayling when he was Justice Secretary, which saw private firms asked to manage probation contracts on a shoestring. That failed experiment cost taxpayers £170m.

Mr Grayling famously told the Transport Select Committee he “doesn’t run the railways” when he was being quizzed over the Northern Rail fiasco.

It’s just as well he doesn’t, as they would probably be even more of a shambles than they are now.

It’s months since Mr Grayling promised sorting out the timetable issues which led to the cancellation and delay of scores of services would be his top priority. Despite the north’s newspapers, including The Northern Echo, coming together to demand action, little has changed.

This inaction makes a mockery of the whole Northern Powerhouse initiative, even for its most staunch defenders (of which there are few in the North-East).

If something as basic as planning to get from A to B via the rail network cannot be achieved on a daily basis, businesses lose out, productivity falls and people get very, very angry.

This has gone on for far too long for Mr Grayling to salvage the situation. He must go, and let someone else sort out the mess.