TransPennine Express: Transport Secretary Mark Harper says nationalisation ‘won’t actually improve services’

The operator, owned by First Group, has forced passengers across the North to endure months of severe disruption, as it has cancelled thousands of services at short notice.

It has blamed several issues, but claimed there would be an immediate improvement if the train drivers’ union ASLEF agreed to a new rest-day working agreement, so drivers can once again cover for absent colleagues and help train new recruits.

Ministers are examining the improvement plan submitted by TransPennine Express (TPE), before they decide whether the operator’s contract to run services across the North should be renewed in May or the Government’s Operator of Last Resort should take over.

During a debate in Parliament, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the operator’s performance is “truly dire” but the Government is refusing to nationalise the services “for ideological reasons”.

Mr Harper said TPE’s performance is “currently unacceptable” but nationalising the services would not be a simple solution.

“If we don’t resolve the issues with the trade unions, then just doing that won’t actually improve the services for passengers at all,” he said.

“Her obsession with nationalising things is ideological. We want to improve the services for passengers.”

Tory MP Jason McCartney, who represents Colne Valley, also called for TPE to be stripped of its contract, claiming passengers are “suffering a totally unacceptable level of cancellations every morning”.

But Rail Minister Huw Merriman said there are “systematic problems” that need to be fixed, and TPE is not solely to blame.

He added: “At the moment, when a driver calls in sick and there are 14 per cent sickness rates, another driver will only cover that if they are working under a rest-day working agreement. But the union won’t agree to rest-day working, therefore the train just gets cancelled.”

The operator and the Department for Transport have been urging the train drivers union ASLEF to accept a new agreement since November, but negotiations have stalled.

A source working with ASLEF said a fresh round of talks were held last week, but no agreement was reached.

He also said that if TPE offered the same pay and conditions set out in the previous rest-day working agreement, which expired in December 2021, there “would be no reason to decline that”.

The latest figures show TPE axed almost a quarter (1,048) of its services due to a shortage of train crew, in the four weeks to February 4. That was far more than any other operator in the country.

TPE has previously said that services have been affected by a range of issues, including high levels of staff sickness and issues with the railways, but a new rest-day working agreement would have “the biggest and most immediate positive impact”.

ASLEF claims TPE needs to recruit more drivers and end its reliance on overtime, but the operator said it has more than ever after hiring 113 last year.

In January, five Northern mayors, including West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin, called for TPE’s services to be nationalised, claiming the operator is “not fit for purpose”.

They highlighted figures which show the operator cancelled 18,587 services between November 2021 and December 2022.