North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll has joined counterparts from around the North in calling for train operator TransPennine Express to be stripped of its contract.
The five Labour mayors say the service needs a “fresh start” after nearly a quarter of trains were cancelled between February and March. Mr Driscoll has joined mayors from West and South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Liverpool city region to tell Transport Secretary Mark Harper that that FirstGroup’s contract to run the service should not be renewed when its deal expires on May 28.
They said a new FirstGroup contract would be “rewarding failure and be a betrayal of passengers in the north”. The call comes after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the FirstGroup-owned company’s cancellation score for the four weeks to March 4 worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% when adjusted to include pre-cancellations due to a shortage of train crew.
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The letter from mayors Tracy Brabin, Andy Burnham, Oliver Coppard, Steve Rotheram and #Mr Driscoll said: “We are hearing from a number of sources, Government may be minded to extend the existing contract with First Group to continue to operate TPE services. We vehemently believe such a decision would be rewarding failure and be a betrayal of passengers in the North.
“For a year we have heard TPE promise services are on the verge of improvement, but performance levels remain dire. Latest statistics from the Office of Rail and Road showing almost a quarter of TPE trains were cancelled in the four weeks between February and March. We are of the unanimous view that TransPennine Express needs to start afresh under new ownership.TPE passengers have suffered from widespread delays and cancellations over the past year.”
The operator, which covers an area across northern England and into Scotland, has been badly affected by drivers no longer volunteering to work paid overtime shifts. The Labour mayors said a move to a publicly-owned ‘operator of last resort’ would improve services.
A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: “Cancellations are now down by around 40% since our recovery plan was introduced. However, in order to further substantially reduce cancellations for customers and all those who depend on the north’s connectivity, we have been trying to secure an overtime pay deal with Aslef for drivers who wish to volunteer for additional shifts.
“Restoring overtime working for drivers at TPE will in turn, if implemented and used in the same way as before, significantly accelerate training and reduce cancellations within days of the overtime deal being enacted, which is exactly what our customers need.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Ministers have been previously clear that the recent level of service provided by TransPennine Express is unacceptable and that all options remain on the table. We are working closely with train operators to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum and long-term solutions are put in place for passengers, including the swift recruitment and training of new drivers.”
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