A review has been ordered after winter weather caused serious disruption on the Merseyrail network because of snow and sub-zero temperatures.

Some passengers were stranded on board one train for over three hours on 9 January after ice on the third rail had caused it to stall, while all services were cancelled for two hours, which caused further problems for the rest of the day.

Now Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has appointed an established transport leader to review the rail industry’s plans for winter, and also to consider whether lessons have been learned from previous years.

Vernon Everitt is transport commissioner for Greater Manchester, and also a non-executive director on the Board of Transport for Wales. He was previously Transport for London’s managing director for customers, communication and technology.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Transport Committee has also heard from the Mayor as well as representatives from Merseyrail, Network Rail and train manufacturer Stadler.

Councillor William Shortall said: ‘It’s winter every year. Will we be sitting here saying the same thing again?’

Stadler’s head of metro and tailor made projects Matthias Hämmerle said the trains recently delivered by his company could cope with minus 25C, but without effective contact with the conductor rail they would ‘shut down’, although installing batteries on more units would help, while ghost trains run overnight can also keep the third rail clear.

Mayor Steve Rotheram said: ‘The recent disruption on our rail network was completely unacceptable and had a significant impact on our residents who rely on trains to get to work, school and important appointments.

‘With the appointment of Vernon Everitt to lead this independent review, we’re taking a thorough, impartial look at how the rail industry plans for and responds to extreme weather. Vernon brings with him a wealth of experience in the transport sector, and his expertise will be invaluable in ensuring we learn from this and improve our winter preparedness.’

The findings of the review will be presented to the next transport committee on 20 March.

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