TransPennine Express (TPE) train services will be cut from Monday as the operator makes temporary amendments to its timetable.
Routes between Liverpool and Manchester, Preston, Lancaster, Edinburgh and Glasgow will be hit by the temporary timetable, which will come into force from next Monday (September 12). The operator has cited "the ongoing impact of higher-than-normal sickness levels and ongoing industrial relations issues" as the reason for changing its timetable.
From Monday, the TPE Anglo-Scottish route will be reduced from 40 services a day to 31. Among those services removed are trains from Liverpool Lime Street to Preston and Glasgow Central to Lime Street.
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A statement on the TPE website reads: "An amended timetable will be in place from Monday 12 September until further notice for TransPennine Express services between Manchester/Liverpool and Edinburgh/Glasgow via Preston and Carlisle.
"The changes are being made to provide a more stable and reliable service following recent disruption caused by a range of issues including sustained high levels of sickness and a training backlog as a direct result of Covid. Combined, these factors have seen a number of on-the-day or ‘evening before’ cancellations being made. Such cancellations are expected to be significantly reduced under this temporary amended timetable."
If your train is no longer running, your ticket will be valid on the previous or next available TPE service and may be valid on trains run by other operators. Full details are available here.
The news of TPE's reduced timetable comes as a further blow to rail users in the North. Avanti West Coast is currently operating reduced services between London Euston and its destinations in Northern England and Scotland.
Avanti, which operates the Liverpool to London route, has been roundly criticised after it slashed services. Phil Whittingham, the train operator's managing director, has stepped down and will leave his post on September 15.
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