Tory trains supremo Grant Shapps picked a fight over rail timetables on live TV - only to get his facts wrong.
The Transport Secretary was left red-faced after he proudly said there were four trains an hour from London to Manchester.
He wasn’t even slipping up when asked a question - he went out of his way to accuse a BBC presenter of being “incorrect” and “confused”.
In fact, there is only one train an hour from London Euston to Manchester with crisis-hit Avanti West Coast.
His Labour rival Louise Haigh quipped: "“Not so much a car crash interview, as a train wreck".
It’s understood Mr Shapps was “confused” and meant to say Avanti was running four trains an hour out of Euston - to the entire country.
Under a reduced timetable this week - due to many drivers no longer volunteering to work on their rest days for extra pay - the four trains run to one each of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.
There is also a train to Edinburgh via the West Midlands every two hours.
Political opponents seized on Mr Shapps’ gaffe. The RMT union tweeted: "The Secretary of State for Transport: Doesn't do detail. Doesn't do negotiation. Doesn't do very much at all!!"
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh added: “The clueless Transport Secretary doesn’t have the first idea how bad the disruption he has inflicted on passengers is.
“Major cities are being cut-off, passengers are battling shockingly bad services, and the man in charge can’t even be bothered to get the basics right.
“Hapless ministers should stop making it up as they go along, do their job and get these vital services restored.
“They should demand a plan from Avanti to urgently restore these services, claw-back taxpayers' money being handed over for services that aren’t running, and if they do not act, strip them of the contract.”
Mr Shapps picked the argument during an interview on BBC Breakfast with presenter Charlie Stayt.
He said: “You incorrectly told your viewers there's only one train running from Manchester to London.
“I think that's not the case even under the reduced timetable - there’s four trains a hour.”
Mr Stayt said: “A direct train?”. The Cabinet minister replied: “Direct trains, yeah.” The presenter said: “There’s only one an hour at the moment.”
Mr Shapps answered: “Well all I can tell you is there's still trains running down the West Coast mainline. The strikes do not, er, enhance the situation…”.
Mr Stayt cut in: “We're getting bogged down in a detail here but I think it matters actually.
“There is only one direct train an hour between London and Manchester at the moment.”
Mr Shapps then appeared confused - asking if “direct” meant it didn’t stop anywhere else at all in the middle, like Stoke-on-Trent.
He asked: “When you say direct are you saying trains stop at no other stations - so trains stop at Milton Keynes along the way for example. I’m not quite clear on your definition.”
Mr Stayt replied: “They've always done it.”
But Mr Shapps soldiered on: “Apart from on strike days, which I think is where you may be getting confused here, that's not the case.
“There has recently been an issue where as Aslef has called for action shorter the strike, and three days later, there was a 90% reduction in train drivers available to drive that route.
“Clearly coordinated unofficial action by ASLEF meaning there aren't trains available under that reduced timetable it went down to four trains an hour.”
It comes after Mr Shapps warned he is preparing to force through huge overhauls to the rail network against the will of striking workers.
A string of different strikes by different unions are crippling services yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The Transport Secretary said he is “moving to” the idea of “imposing” reforms on staff - claiming rail unions were failing to consult properly on them.
Reforms range from making Sunday working compulsory to shuttering hundreds of ticket offices and getting rid of Network Rail engineers.
It was not immediately clear which measures he could impose or when - and multiple negotiations are ongoing.
But Mr Shapps warned he could use Section 188 of the Trade Union Act - which says a boss can break rules on making people redundant if “special circumstances render it not reasonably practicable for the employer to comply”.
The move will enrage unions, who believe rail workers would effectively be “fired and rehired” if certain measures like Sunday working were made mandatory against their will.
