New PM Rishi Sunak is told rail service chaos in the North must be treated as an emergency

Mayors from West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Manchester, Liverpool and North Tyneside held an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon in the wake of weeks of disruption which has seen hundreds of services cancelled by a number of rail operators, including TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Northern.

In a statement, the five mayors said: "As thousands of last-minute cancellations continue to make life miserable for people in the North, and cause serious damage to the economy, the Government remains in a state of paralysis having just appointed its third Transport Secretary in seven weeks.

"If this level of disruption was being experienced in other parts of the country, we believe action would already have been taken to improve matters. We do not accept that passengers in the North should be treated in this way and just expected to put up with it. We won't."

They said: "We are calling on the Prime Minister and his Transport Secretary Mark Harper to treat this emergency with the urgency it deserves. Only the Government can haul operators to the table to sort out this mess."

The Department for Transport said on Thursday that Mr Harper had invited northern leaders to a meeting as soon as possible.

West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin called Thursday's meeting which also included the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham; the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram; the mayor of the North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll; and the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard.

Speaking in Leeds afterwards, Ms Brabin said they wanted to "put on record that we are sick to the back teeth of the situation, the shambles that we find ourselves in. This chaos has impacted on millions of people's lives. It's also derailing our economic ambitions for our region.

"This is really important given the economic chaos which was brought on by the mini-budget."

Ms Brabin said stories she had heard about people missing funerals and job interviews due to the continuing cancellations "would make you weep".

She said the five Labour mayors had three demands of government. The first was for an urgent meeting with ministers to agree a long-term plan for transport in the north. The second was for Mr Harper to sit down with rail operators and the unions to reach an agreement on rest day working. The third was for the Government to put TransPennine Express on notice relating to its performance as its contract is up for renewal next year.

A DfT spokeswoman said: "It's unacceptable that poor levels of service and strikes are preventing hard-working people from going about their daily lives.

"The Government is investing billions into northern transport and is working closely with train operators to ensure new drivers are swiftly recruited and long-term solutions are put in place so passengers can travel confidently without disruption.

"The Department has written to northern leaders inviting them to meet with the Transport Secretary as soon as possible so, together, we can provide the reliable service passengers across the region deserve."