TransPennine Express sorry after residents brand depot noise ‘unbearable’

Residents living close to Transpennine Express’ (TPE) depot in the town have complained about “throbbing, thundering, and reverberating” noise emanating from the site, leading to an apology from the company.

In an email to Matthew Galton, the train operator’s managing director, one resident living near the depot, said: “It is telling that I can hear every change in tone of the engine noise… it penetrates the whole house.

“I believe that your company has no moral right to subject us to this noise nuisance.”

Concerns have particularly been raised about the use of TPE’s Nova 3 engines, which have been the subject of previous complaints.

Councillor Rich Maw, who represents the Weaponness and Ramshill division in Scarborough, said: “[TPE’s] use of the Nova 3 engines continues to make conditions unbearable for residents.

“The ground-shaking rumble of these huge engines at full idle is still causing huge distress to those unfortunate to live near the recently-built and poorly sited depot off Seamer Road.”

A TPE spokesman said: “Customers are at the heart of what we do and we apologise for any discomfort that our trains cause for those who live nearby the railway.

“Scarborough depot remains an important facility for us, which provides jobs for local people.

“We have worked with the local council and introduced some operational changes to reduce the level of noise experienced by residents living close to the depot.

“Our services between York and Scarborough provide a valuable connection for local communities and in recent years, we’ve invested £500m in bringing in new, modern trains, such as our Nova 3s, which have enabled us to provide much-needed extra capacity.”

However, it is not the first time that complaints have been made about TPE’s £7m depot behind Seamer Road, which opened in 2019 to provide maintenance, including refuelling, to the company’s fleet.

In 2020 TPE said it took complaints about noisy trains “very seriously” after members of the public said it was making their lives a “misery”.

Coun Rich Maw said: “I think we can all acknowledge the grief that TransPennine has caused commuters and residents alike. I find myself in agreement with our MP who has recently commented publicly that he believes that the service should be renationalised.

“The company has done very little to work with residents and commuters who have often been ignored when complaining of the delivery of service and the disruption the depot has caused and is still causing.”

Last week the outgoing Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, Sir Robert Goodwill, said he was against the renewal of TPE’s contract and in favour of the service being renationalised owing to the under-fire operator’s “atrocious” record of cancellations.