TransPennine Express is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network would be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service.
The contract for TransPennine (TPE), which is owned by FirstGroup and runs trains across the north of England and into southern Scotland, will expire on 28 May. Passengers and politicians across the north had called for change, with jobs and lives blighted by trains that failed to run.
Almost one in four passenger journeys across Britain will now be on state-operated trains, including in Wales and Scotland, with the Department for Transport’s operator of last resort already running LNER, Northern and Southeastern services.
Harper said the move would not fix the TPE service overnight and blamed the train drivers’ union Aslef for some of the issues.
“In my time as transport secretary, I have been clear that passenger experience must always come first,” he said. “This is not a silver bullet and will not instantaneously fix a number of challenges being faced, including Aslef’s actions which are preventing TransPennine Express from being able to run a full service – once again highlighting why it’s so important that the railways move to a seven-day working week.”
The DfT said it had taken steps to improve services, with the operator having launched a recovery plan in February. Despite slight improvements, the DfT said that to achieve the “performance levels passengers” deserved and that the northern economy needed, both the contract and the underlying relationships “must be reset”.
However, the department said some of the problems were out of TPE’s control – particularly a backlog of recruitment and training of drivers, and the dispute over rest-day working.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, welcomed the decision not to renew the TPE contract but hit out at the transport secretary for his comments. Whelan said: “The company … has got exactly what it deserves today. Mark Harper – who is not a stupid man – knows full well that the fault lies not with this trade union, but at the door of the company and its desperately poor managers.”
Ministers have been keen to retain the involvement of FirstGroup, a British company that owns four big train operating companies including Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway and is considered a linchpin of the privatised railway system in the UK. The DfT said the decision to bring TPE under operator of last resort was a temporary move and the government intended for it to return to the private sector.
Labour has said it would take rail operations under state control as contracts expired if it were in government. The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said TPE had “comprehensively failed the north”, adding: “Ministers have finally accepted they can no longer defend the indefensible.
“But this endless cycle of shambolic private operators failing passengers shows the Conservatives’ rail system is fundamentally broken.”
Mayors across northern England had long demanded the move and claimed victory. The West Yorkshire mayor, Tracy Brabin, said: “It is absolutely right that this is the end of the line … We’ve been urging government to act for almost a year, as delays and cancellations have damaged our economy and subjected commuters in the north to sheer misery.
“We hope this allows an opportunity to reset relationships with staff, who have borne the brunt of operator failings, and look forward to hearing how the new operator intends to improve services.”
The decision went to the wire, with ministers agonising over their options. It was delayed until after the local elections, with the state of rail services in the north contributing to disappointing poll results for the Conservatives.
TPE’s sister service Avanti has been given two six-month extensions, with a warning to improve when its contract expired in autumn 2022. However, there had not been sufficient signs of recovery at TPE, which was also warned by the rail regulator over concealing the extent of cancellations in official figures.
FirstGroup’s chief executive, Graham Sutherland, said: “FirstGroup is a leading UK rail operator with a strong and diversified portfolio. Today’s decision does not alter our belief in the important role of private rail operators in the delivery of vital, environmentally friendly transport for customers and communities across the UK.”
Harper said the move would provide an opportunity to reset relationships between the operator, staff, unions and passengers. The DfT will review services across the north, with Harper asking mayors to engage in that process.
