A SQUAD of mayors, including Ben Houchen, has been tasked with turning around the fortunes of ailing Northern Rail.

The beleaguered firm has now been taken over by a government operator – and Northern leaders will sit on a panel to put it back on track in the next 100 days.

Northern ran a number of services to and from Teesside – including between Saltburn and Darlington, the Middlesbrough to Whitby route and between Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

But last year saw just over half of Northern services arrive at its stations on time, compared to the national average of 65 per cent.

Failings on Teesside sparked Tees Valley Mayor Houchen to write an angry letter to Northern last year.

The Conservative mayor said the “ultimate priority” was making sure Teesside got a reliable service which ran on time.

Mr Houchen said: “Just because the government now owns it, it doesn’t mean it’s going to work on day one. The biggest challenge we now face is how do we make sure that all of the trains timetabled are delivered and run on time so there aren’t cancellations.”

He added any Pacer trains still on the wider network needed to be removed.

“Just getting a train set that actually works and one that doesn’t involve Pacer trains has to be the target in the first 100 days,” added Mr Houchen.

Northern leaders from Manchester, Liverpool, Tees Valley and Yorkshire will join a panel to advise the new operator on priorities for a new franchise.

The government says overcrowding on Northern’s network will be a “priority focus” for improvement – with new technology being trialled to identify “crowding pinch points”.

A major deep cleaning program of trains has also started today – with an overhaul of on-board cleanliness, to make sure carriages meet the high standards passengers deserve.

The “Operator of Last Resort” will run the Northern franchise under the direction of the government.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald wished the board well.

“If they wanted to talk to me about it, I might have considered it but seemingly they’ve lost their phone number,” he added.

But he believed the move was an indication of wider problems on the network.

Mr McDonald said: “This is just an acknowledgement that the system is broken – and has been broken for a very long time.

“I’ve been calling for the nationalisation of the rail industry for long enough and this is a step in the right direction but it’s not the real deal.”

The Middlesbrough MP said the Operator of Last Resort was a “bizarre system” but believed the move to take control of the franchise was “not before time”.

He added: “Let’s hope they can produce a better outcome for passengers.

“They’ve got to concentrate on the here and now to make sure it works on a daily basis.

“That’s the first task.”

Political leaders, including Andy Burnham from Manchester and Judith Blake from Leeds, will be joined by regional leaders, passenger representatives and industry leaders on the panel.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This is a new era for rail in the North but there will be no quick fix for the network as we build solutions for the future.

“Today marks the beginning of rebuilding of trust in these services, and voices from the region will be essential as we work together to understand and deliver the improvements passengers need.

“Our aim is to give the North of England more powers over their railways, restoring the confidence of passengers and delivering a network they can truly rely on.”