Labour rail minister warns every train in northern England is 'clapped out' and needs replacing ahead of rail shake-up

Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy, speaking at the Railway Industry Association's annual conference in London, warned that replacing worn-out rolling stock could not be deferred to a long-term "wish list". He argued that years of industry "silos" had fostered a "culture of blame" that prevented effective network management. His remarks came ahead of the planned creation of Great British Railways, a single body that would unite track and train operations for the first time since the sector was privatised in the 1990s.

Hendy said trains left "parked in a field" and then returned to service were "miserably failing on a daily basis."

Great Western Railway services in Devon and Cornwall were cited as an example of the costs of an incoherent network.

Great British Railways will place track and train operations under a single authority, reuniting them for the first time since privatisation in the mid-1990s.