Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced that an inquiry will be launched into whether rail companies breached their contracts after the recent timetable debacle.
On Tuesday morning the Commons Transport Committee announced that it is to launch its own inquiry into the issue. More details about the inquiry and timescale will be announced 'in due course'.
The Office of Rail and Road will carry out the Government's inquiry into the failure to implement the new timetable, Mr Grayling told the Commons.
Mr Grayling has previously appeared to lay the blame for the disruption at the door of Network Rail, but told the Commons this week that the rail firms were not sufficiently prepared for the new schedule.
A special compensation scheme will be put in place for Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) passengers, he added.
He apologised to rail passengers for the disruption, which has been linked to a number of causes including previous delays in infrastructure works, and said he was 'incredibly frustrated' by the timetabling problems.
The news comes as rail services run by Northern have continued to be significantly disrupted on Monday, despite the introduction of an emergency timetable and weighed down by a full quota of commuters.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the rail industry, said at 3.15pm that so far 1,264 Northern trains had run, with 74% arriving as planned but 7% of trains cancelled or significantly late.
This compares to the first two weeks of the new timetables when 69% of trains arrived as planned and an average of 11% of trains were cancelled or significantly late.
However, given that Northern introduced a new timetable on Monday morning, cutting 6% of its planned services, it is not clear whether it has run more trains than during the last two weeks.
RDG regional director Robert Nisbet said: ‘As customers return from their half-term holidays the network is busier than it has been over the last fortnight since the new timetable was introduced, nevertheless today is seeing some improvement in the punctuality and reliability of services.
‘Our people are doing everything they can to ensure customers can complete their journeys with a train services that is as reliable as possible.’
The RDG said that on GTR, which has also seen significant disruption on Thameslink and Great Northern services since introducing a new timetable a fortnight ago, 1,540 trains had run by mid afternoon. Of these, only 83% arriving as planned, while 8% of planned trains had been cancelled or arrived significantly late.
This compares to the first two weeks of the new timetables when 76% of trains running arrived as planned and an average of 13% of trains were cancelled or significantly late.
Across the national network 11,124 trains ran, with 87% arriving as planned, while 3% of trains were cancelled or delayed by more than 30 minutes.
This compares to the first two weeks of the new timetables when 84% of trains arrived as planned and an average of 7% of trains were cancelled or significantly late.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, said: ‘Transport Focus first warned about fresh timetabling problems last Autumn and recently updated that work finding more problems.
‘An inquiry into what has happened is needed – including an understanding of how, despite strong assurances, these welcome investments and potential improvements have gone so sour. The relative roles played by governments, Network Rail and train companies need to be analysed and understood so that timetable planning can be put back on a proper footing for the long-term.’
Trains arriving as planned are defined as those meeting the current industry measure for punctuality where trains are timed to five or 10 minutes at their terminating station.
Significant lateness is defined as trains arriving at their final destination more than 30 minutes late.
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