The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was late for a news conference to protest about poor railway services – because his train was cancelled. Merseyside Mayor Steve Rotheram was also late for the same reason. Speaking to reporters at the conference on Saturday, Andy Burnham called for the government to provide financial support for railways in the region. He said: ‘Appalling levels of service are also turning people away from the railways at a time when, to meet our economic and environmental ambitions, we urgently need to make sure public transport is always a viable – and even a preferable – alternative to cars. But it is not just operators who are responsible for the North’s failing rail system. Successive governments have failed to invest in vital infrastructure improvements that could make a significant difference to reliability.’

Bond Street station opens

The new Elizabeth Line station at Bond Street opened this morning, after delays to construction had meant that it stayed closed when trains started running through the central section in May. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, outgoing transport commissioner Andy Byford and transport minister Katherine Fletcher were at the station to welcome some of the first passengers.