"No option is off the table" for TransPennine Express (TPE) as its contract expiry date nears - that was the message from Transport Secretary Mark Harper as he faces the decision over whether the operator will get an extension.
Passengers on trains run by the FirstGroup-owned company have suffered from widespread delays and cancellations in recent months.
TPE's contract to run the service expires on May 28 - and MPs on the Commons Transport Select Committee today asked Mr Harper to think hard about what the future of the service might be.
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Mike Amesbury, the Labour MP for Weaver Vale in Cheshire, told Mr Harper that passengers have suffered a “horrendous experience”, with nearly a quarter of trains cancelled in recent weeks.
He asked the minister: “How on earth could you realistically be considering extending that contract?”.
Mr Harper said he has to “look at the evidence” and “be careful about making a decision that is legally defensible”.
He added: “I’ve been clear that I’m driven by the service that’s experienced by passengers and no option is off the table.”
TPE has been badly affected by drivers no longer volunteering to work paid overtime shifts.
Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures show the operator’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. Cancellation scores show the percentage of services that are either fully or part-cancelled, with part-cancellations counted as half a full cancellation.
Cancellation scores have traditionally not included services removed from timetables as late as 10pm the previous day through a controversial process known as p-coding. That led to many complaints from frustrated passengers.
In an effort to boost transparency, in February the ORR began publishing adjusted figures taking into account p-coding due to a lack of resources.
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