TransPennine Express: Tory MPs want operator to lose contract following months of misery for passengers

Martin Vickers, MP for Cleethorpes, Holly Mumby-Croft, MP for Scunthorpe, Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, and Lia Nici, MP for Great Grimsby, have co-signed a letter with three Labour MPs, which claims passengers have been "completely let down by an uninterested franchise holder" and forced to endure “endemic unreliability”.

In the letter, they called on Transport Secretary Mark Harper to make sure TransPennine Express’s (TPE) contract to run rail services is not renewed after it expires in May, and said he should not accept “another excuse”.

It comes after five Labour mayors urged the Government to nationalise these services, claiming TPE is “not fit for purpose” and passengers “can’t accept it anymore”, as 18,587 trains were cancelled between November 2021 and December 2022.

The operator, which is owned by First Group, is cancelling hundreds of services at short notice each week and the latest figures show it had one of the worst punctuality records in the country between July and September last year, as just over half (55.8 per cent) its trains ran on time.

According to TPE, it has been struggling with driver shortages, as they stopped volunteering to work on rest days last year and the training programme for new recruits was disrupted by the pandemic. Industrial action and high levels of staff sickness have also caused issues.

But in their letter, the MPs said TPE services “are cancelled far more than those run by other companies" and "this suggests there is a significant problem with management".

They wrote: "Over the last 14 months, passengers attempting to travel on the supposedly hourly TPE service have frequently been subjected to gaps in services lasting multiple hours.

“At train stations, there is no regular bus or taxi replacement service in place and there are regularly no TPE staff on hand to provide help and support, meaning passengers are left none the wiser and completely let down by an uninterested franchise holder.”

They added: "We have collectively come to the conclusion that the only remaining solution is for you to ensure TPE's franchise is not renewed.”

The letter was co-signed by three Labour MPs who represent constituencies in Hull: Emma Hardy, Diana Johnson and Karl Turner.

Last month, Rail Minister Huw Merriman said TPE’s performance is “clearly unacceptable” and the operator needs to “turn it around” if it wants to continue running rail services.

He also said a takeover by the Government’s Operator of Last Resort is not a silver bullet, as only a small number of senior personnel change and the it still has to deal with issues like driver shortages and industrial action.

A TPE spokeswoman said the service “is unacceptable at present” but staff are working “to resolve a number of issues and deliver a train service they can rely on”.

She added: “The biggest and most immediate positive impact for customers would be for ASLEF to allow drivers to work overtime again.

"Late last year we were given authority from Department for Transport to make a new overtime offer but this was rejected by ASLEF without putting it to their members. The offer remains on the table.”