Rail operators are facing calls for them to be stripped of their contracts over “diabolical” cancellations, which left one North East mayor unable to get to a crunch meeting with the transport secretary.
Labour chiefs across the North have pleaded with the Government to take urgent action over a public transport crisis that has seen thousands of trains cancelled at short notice over recent weeks by TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Northern. North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll was due to join other metro mayors at a key sitdown with transport secretary Mark Harper in Manchester on Wednesday afternoon, but was forced to call in via Zoom instead because he feared being left stranded on a station platform if he tried to go by train.
Mr Driscoll told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that 61 TransPennine services that were due to run on Wednesday were cancelled the night before. He said that services should be brought into public ownership and demanded “serious investment” in the North’s railway infrastructure – including a commitment to build Northern Powerhouse Rail in full and a plan to end operators’ reliance on workers volunteering for shifts on their rest days.
Ahead of the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Driscoll added: “What the rail system needs is an adrenaline shot from the Government and instead they are filling out a ‘do not resuscitate’ order on it. We want to work together and get this fixed. But he is the secretary of state and he cannot go blaming other people when he is responsible for transport in this country.”
Meanwhile, Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon described the shocking rate of delays and cancellations “diabolical and getting worse”. He told the North East Combined Authority on Tuesday: “I am having discussions with leaders and mayors across the North, who have all expressed concern. I think there will be a concerted voice from political leaders across the North that the performance is unacceptable and has reached the stage where I would not be surprised if there is a call for those franchises to be cancelled and them brought back under public control because of extreme poor performance.”
The Department for Transport already took over Northern in 2020, terminating Arriva Rail North’s contract due to poor performance. The region’s leaders have called for TransPennine Express to be put on a “six-month probation” before its contract is up for renewal next May, while Avanti has also faced widespread criticism of its services on the west coast line.
Much of the current disruption is being caused by rail workers no longer volunteering to do shifts on their rest days, amid an industrial relations crisis.
A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: “Prior to December 2021 TransPennine Express (TPE) had posted its best ever performance results, and was subsequently recognised as “Train Operator of the Year” at the Rail Business Awards.
“Since then, prolonged disruption affecting our services has been caused by a range of issues including ongoing high levels of train crew sickness, a persisting training backlog as a direct result of Covid, and infrastructure issues outside of TPE’s control. Combined, these factors have seen a number of on-the-day or ‘evening before’ cancellations being made.
“In normal circumstances, we have enough people to fully operate our scheduled timetable – and have more drivers now than ever before – however the combination of factors has put unprecedented pressure on our ability to effectively operate our services. Our customers want, and deserve, reliable and punctual train services, and we are sorry have not been able to consistently provide that due to the ongoing issues. TPE’s team continues to work flat-out to deliver higher levels of service delivery and to tackle the issues that are being experienced by customers.”
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