A union has claimed Northern Rail is "likely to go bust later this year", amid what it described as a serious financial "crisis".
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) has more than 20,000 members, and has asked the Government to bring the struggling franchise back under public ownership.
It wants Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to "put passengers first" after picking up on what it described as "credible rumours".
General secretary of the TSSA, Manuel Cortes, said speculation in the rail industry indicates Northern could follow Virgin East Coast - a firm that "ran out of money and was forced to hand the franchise back to the government".
Mr Cortes, said: “The government must act now and put passengers first. By all accounts Northern is failing and therefore can’t be allowed to stagger on for months causing yet more misery for passengers.
“A failing franchise won’t only provide proper services, it’s likely to overlook non urgent repairs and there is also the distinct possibility of overall safety being compromised. That is something this union will never allow."
TSSA also said it wanted to give the government time to act to make sure the interests of passengers were protected.
Jibing the transport secretary, Mr Cortes added: "For all those reasons Chris 'Failing' Grayling can’t drag his heels on this one. The travelling public are sick and tired of the misery caused by Northern in the light of the timetabling fiasco last year.
Most Read
“If Northern is financially compromised then Grayling must do the right thing now and act to bring this franchise back into public hands.
Welcome to BusinessLive
BusinessLive is the new, national digital brand from Reach - and it's bringing together business news from across the 海角视频.
We'll offer the best coverage of local business markets and of key business sectors nationally, from manufacturing to property and everything in between.
By bringing together coverage from across Reach’s titles in England and Wales, BusinessLive will shine a spotlight on the entrepreneurs, the stars of the future and the small firms that are the backbone of our economy.
And you can sign up to our daily email newsletters .
Reach is the largest regional and national news publisher in the 海角视频, with famous titles such as the the , the Western Mail, and the in our portfolio alongside the iconic and .
Our pioneering online network of market-leading websites includes , , , and .
“This again just goes to show that you can’t play fast and loose with the railways. Privateers and public services are a match made in hell – just ask any of Northern’s customers.”
Last month, it was revealed that over 30,000 Northern Rail services were cancelled or partly cancelled in the last year according to figures .
Days later, the Mayors of the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester called on the Transport Secretary to terminate Northern Rail franchise "as soon as possible".
Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham said regional Northern had consistently failed to show they are able to take the action required to restore public confidence or deliver their legally-binding franchise requirements.
And in January, it was reported that the pre-tax profits of Arriva Rail North, trading as Northern Rail, fell from £21m to £12.7m.
Don’t miss
A spokesman for Northern said: “The North deserves the best possible rail service and we are working hard to improve performance and reliability for our customers.
“Northern has faced unprecedented challenges during the past two years, particularly the unacceptable disruption following the May 2018 timetable change, which is well documented. This was caused by delays to, and late delivery of, infrastructure projects which were outside of our control.
“We have apologised to our customers for the pain caused last year and have since delivered two successful timetable changes which introduced many more new services and, crucially, significantly improved performance.
“Since the start of the franchise, we have made a large number of other improvements. We are investing heavily in new and refurbished trains, have introduced more than 2,000 extra services each week and hundreds more people have been employed to help customers.
"These improvements are delivering significant benefits, but are still a work in progress. Underpinning all this is an absolute focus on safety for customers and staff. We are investing heavily in staff training and upgrading our trains and stations.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We have seen much needed improvements in Northern services since last year, with industry expert Richard George driving forward a recovery plan focused on reliable services.
“Alongside Transport for the North, who co-manage the franchise, our absolute priority is delivering the services that passengers expect.
“At a time when performance is improving and brand-new trains are being rolled out to replace the unpopular and dated Pacers, change could result in significant disruption. We see no reason at this stage to consider making changes to the franchise.”