Theresa May under fire as leaked emails revealed Whitehall officials described key Northern Rail routes as 'valueless'

Ministers and officials were warned of 'impending chaos' on the railways as long as two years ago, says Labour's Lisa Nandy

Theresa May has come under fire after leaked emails revealed Whitehall officials described key northern rail routes as “valueless” and sought to distract the public from rail chaos.

Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who obtained the correspondence, challenged the prime minister over the claims that ministers and officials were warned of major disruption as long as two years ago.

Passengers have been plagued by weeks of rail chaos after the botched introduction of new timetables by Northern Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) caused delays and disruption on a string of key routes.

Rail bosses have tried to blame Network Rail for the prolonged disruption, as they claim they were not given sufficient time to implement the timetables. However Labour has laid the blame with transport secretary Chris Grayling and urged him to "step up and shoulder" the blame.

In a heated exchange during prime minister's questions, Ms Nandy, MP for Wigan, revealed that emails from the Department for Transport (DfT) showed officials saying northern rail routes were "valueless" and discussed whether to "throw a sop" to northern passenger groups

She said: “After four weeks of Northern Rail chaos, passengers in the north of England have had enough.

“The government has said that Network Rail didn't deliver and Northern wasn't prepared.

"I have been handed emails from within DfT that show that ministers and officials were warned of impending chaos as long ago as two years ago.

“These emails are a disgrace.

"In them officials describe key northern routes as ‘valueless’, discuss classic handling strategies for members of parliament, discuss whether to throw a sop to northern passenger groups and debate whether to propagate myths in order to divert public attention from agreed planned route closures."

Ms Nandy accused the prime minister of withholding information from MPs and the public, and accused her of being "so incompetent she literally has not got a clue what is going on in her own government."

Ms May said she would not comment on leaked documents but hit back, saying there was an independent panel that advised the government ahead of the timetabling changes.

It comes after Mr Grayling narrowly survived a vote of no confidence in the Commons on Tuesday.

Labour tabled the motion, which said Mr Grayling needed to “step up and shoulder the blame” for the ongoing saga.

While the vote was not binding, it would have ramped up the pressure on Ms May to sack him if the motion had been supported by Tory MPs.

A DfT spokesperson said: “These emails are nothing to do with the current timetabling issues being endured by Northern.

“The emails are more than two years old and relate to the wider design of the Northern franchise and deciding which trains were most needed to best serve the passengers in the region.

"The excerpts quoted relate solely to a decision over whether trains from Southport would stop at Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Victoria and have no further implications beyond that individual route.

“It is deeply regrettable that a DfT official used inappropriate language and that matter is being looked at.”