Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire is set to attend an emergency meeting after weeks of cancellations and disruptions have affected the North.

The meeting was called by West Yorkshires Labour Mayor, Tracy Brabin.

The “shambles” that have affected rail services is to be discussed by the entire regions Mayors and rail operators including TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Northern.

The Mayors are expected to urge the new transport secretary to intervene by making a direct appeal.

Ms Brabin said: “Today, we as northern mayors come together to send a clear message that we will not stand for this shambles.

“This is inflicting misery on millions of people, derailing our plans to build a strong northern economy and putting us in the slow lane.”

Others attending the meeting include  Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Steve Rotherham, the Mayor of Liverpool City Region, the Mayor of North of Tyne Jamie Driscoll.

According to Labour, more than 40 services were cancelled on Tuesday and 60 on Wednesday by TransPennine Express. They blamed this on staffing difficulties.

Ms Brabin has said ahead of today meeting: “The North has been left behind for far too long, and we’re calling on the third transport secretary in as many months to step in with an immediate intervention.”

Rail minister at the time, Kevin Foster said that the government was in fact making preparations to intervene if there is a failure to deliver improvements on the West Coast Main Line.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh urged ministers to intervene. She said they had “refused to lift a finger to tackle the chaos.

“This ongoing fiasco is causing real damage to the public, passengers and the economy.”