North East leaders have welcomed the decision to nationalise TransPennine Express, after passengers were left to endure “appalling” train services.
The Government announced on Thursday morning that it would be taking the struggling operator’s services under public control as a result of months of major cancellations. Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle North, called the downfall of TransPennine Express (TPE) a “sorry episode” and said passengers had “born the misery of a shambolic private operator for too long”.
North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll had previously lobbied for TPE owner First Group to be stripped of its contract – but warned that the Department for Transport’s decision will not solve the region’s rail problems.
