RAIL unions called on the government today to stop companies “bleeding Britain’s railways dry” and nationalise the system following news that chaotic Northern Rail could be stripped of its franchise.

The train operator, which has provoked the ire of commuters across northern England in the past few years over high levels of cancellations and delays, could be stripped of its franchise.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that the Northern Rail franchise will only continue for “a number of months.”

Mr Shapps announced the decision at Leeds station, saying that he was “dismayed” by the faltering performance on Northern services and that he was “not prepared to see it continue.”

He said that “concern over the financial position” of Arriva Rail North (ARN), the parent company of Northern, forced him into the position of refusing their franchise.

However, he is still considering whether or not to give ARN a fresh short-term contract, and his “route forward” for rail services in northern England would be based around the principles of maintaining business profits and commuter welfare.

But Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan blasted Mr Shapps’s incompetence, telling the Morning Star: “Does Shapps not know anything? In the ministerial written statement on Northern Rail he refers to his department, the Department for Transport, as the Department of Transport.

“As the man who’s meant to be in charge, you really would think he should know the name of his own department, wouldn’t you? But then it’s typical of his sloppy Tory thinking.

“The right thing to do would be to bring all of Britain’s railways back into public ownership. Because the railway is a natural monopoly, everyone knows privatisation has failed, and no amount of tinkering will alter that fact.”

The news comes ahead of the arrival of the Williams Review, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks and seeks to offer solutions to chronic problems on Britain’s railways, such as cancellations, delays and understaffing.

But rail unions have criticised those in charge of the review for ruling out nationalisation as a possible solution in advance.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “This is just another fudge by the Tory government on Northern but it still proves without a shadow of a doubt that its private franchise model for running our railways is finished.

“The whole privatisation experiment which has reduced our railways to chaos must now be consigned to the dustbin of history.

“The spivs and speculators who have spent 25 years bleeding Britain’s railways dry should be told that the game is up for every single one of them and should be instructed to pack their bags and clear out.”

TSSA leader Manuel Cortes called Mr Shapps’s announcement “a complete betrayal of long-suffering Northern Rail passengers.”

He said: “Instead of a ‘short-term option’ to be announced later in the month, the government should do the right thing now and immediately bring Northern Rail into public ownership.

“It’s blindingly obvious to anyone with an understanding of the extent of the failure of Northern Rail that the positive proven record of public ownership is what is required and what passengers and staff deserve.

“The Tories are already failing the north.”

And Labour’s shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald urged the government to “get on with” nationalising the entire railway service, saying: “We can’t go on with this system, which allows successive train operators to make a mess of our train services.”