TransPennine Express cancellations: Mayor Tracy Brabin attacks train company for slew of cancellations
The train operator said cancellations impacting its entire network, which includes swathes of Yorkshire, had been caused by a track defect at Huyton in Merseyside.
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Hide AdBut it also admitted that staff sickness and employees being on training had had an impact.
A spokesperson said: “A track defect at Huyton is continues to cause disruption to our services between Liverpool and Manchester, with the impact also being felt further afield across our network – as far as Newcastle and Glasgow.
“Coupled with this, sustained high levels of sickness and a training backlog as a direct result of Covid continue to affect our services and these factors have seen a number of on-the-day or ‘evening before’ cancellations being made.
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Hide Ad“In normal circumstances, we have enough people to fully operate our scheduled timetable, however the combination of all these factors has put unprecedented pressure on our ability to operate a consistent service.”
The company apologised for the issues and urged people to check before travelling. But Tracy Brabin said the cancellations reflected “just another day in the North”.
She said: “What we’re seeing today is typical of the daily struggles faced by commuters in the North of England.
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Hide Ad"I’ve just learnt that my own train this evening has been cancelled again.
"We’re fed up of being badly let down by a failing rail network that isn’t meeting our needs. This is especially unacceptable when our economy needs all the support it can get.”
She shared a photograph of a list of cancelled services on her social media, writing the caption “How do we build our economy when train companies are doing this?”
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Hide AdHer fellow Labour mayor, Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, tweeted his anger, saying “Appreciate there’s a lot going on but the meltdown in train services across the North of England needs more attention.”
Humberside-based BBC journalist Andy Comfort said he had never known so many train cancellations by the company on a non-strike day.
The train company was also beleaguered yesterday with its customer phone lines going down.