AN investigation into what caused the May timetable disruption across East Lancashire’s railways found “nobody took charge”.

The Government said a review will be carried out considering all parts of the sector, including accountability, the franchising system and value for money for passengers and taxpayers.

An investigation by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator into the May timetable change concluded Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Northern, the Department for Transport and the ORR itself all made mistakes.

The inquiry’s interim report warned of a “lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities”.

It added: “The present industry arrangements do not support clarity of decision making: it was unclear who was responsible for what.

“Nobody took charge.”

The May 20 timetable change was intended to deliver huge benefits to passengers as a result of major upgrades to the network, but instead saw services crippled in the north and south-east of England.

GTR and Northern cancelled up to 470 and 310 scheduled trains respectively each weekday during the disruption, which lasted several weeks.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling will hope the rail review will reduce calls to stop private firms running services.

He accepted that the railway "needs reform to prioritise its passengers".

Mr Grayling added: "We need to go further and more quickly, to get the best from the public and private sectors, and deliver the railway we need for the 21st century.

"It is vital that this review leaves no stone unturned and makes bold recommendations for the future."

ORR chairman Stephen Glaister, who led the inquiry, said: “Good intentions and over-optimism within the rail industry about its ability to recover missed deadlines left no time to uncover and fix problems.

“When problems arose, timetable planners were stretched and train operators were ill-equipped to help passengers.”

The rail review commissioned by the Government will be led by Keith Williams - deputy chairman of John Lewis and former chief executive of British Airways - who will be supported by an external panel.

Barry White, chief executive of Transport for the North, said: “The interim findings of this Glaister Review clearly highlight that there is a real need for radical change in the way the rail industry operates.

“Fundamentally, as our members have said from the outset, changes are needed so we can be sure passenger’s interests are put front and centre of every decision made.”