As train services run by TransPennine Express will be nationalised after months of delays and cancellations, North East MPs have reacted to how this will affect public transport in our region.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced the decision to bring the operator’s services under Government control, but warned it is “not a silver bullet.”
Graham Sutherland, chief executive of TransPennine Express owner FirstGroup, insisted the company has “worked extremely hard to improve services.”
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said ministers have “finally accepted they can no longer defend the indefensible.”
Read more: TransPennine Express services to be nationalised after months of disruption
Conservative MP for Darlington, Peter Gibson, did not hold back with the current state of the service.
Mr Gibson said: “The dreadful service, regular cancellations and excessive use of P codes by TransPennine has wreaked misery on passengers across our region for too long.
“I welcome the decision to strip the current operator of the franchise.”
Labour MP for Stockton North, Alex Cunningham, is feeling very happy about the service going back into state control, but he thinks it must have happened much sooner.
Mr Cunningham said: “After months of travel chaos the Government have finally made the right decision by nationalising the TransPennine service.
“We can only imagine, however, how much chaos could have been avoided, and trips saved, if Ministers had acted sooner.
“The debacle highlights that the system of handing out contracts to private rail operators is fundamentally broken, and passengers are being failed as a result.
“Rather than the State acting as an ‘operator of last resort’ there is a compelling argument not just from the months-long TransPennnine fiasco but also the East Coast Mainline, Avant and other failing services across the country, to make for our railways to brought back under public control and make the railways work for people, not profit.
“If the Conservative Government won’t act in the interest of passengers then an incoming Labour Government will.”
Read more: What went wrong with TransPennine Express and what happens next?
Read more: TransPennine Express to be Government controlled after 'continuous cancellations'
Read more: How unreliable is TransPennine Express and are nationalised train firms better?
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.
He said: “People across the North have been suffering appalling services from TPE for years. I’ve heard of people having to get taxis from Manchester airport to Newcastle because trains were cancelled at short notice.
“I’ve been lobbying TransPennine to improve, and lobbying the Secretary of State not to renew their franchise, along with my fellow Labour mayors Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram, Tracy Brabin and Oliver Coppard. We use the trains, we talk to our people – we knew what needed to happen.
“The Secretary of State has listened to us, changed his position, and decided to bring TPE back into public control. We also need to settle the industrial disputes so rail workers’ pay can keep up with inflation – it’s not too much to ask.
“This is good news for passengers. But unless we get more investment in our railways we won’t fix the underlying problem.”
Read more: Nationalising TransPennine services must mean real change – Scottish minister
Watchdog Transport Focus said passengers have “endured an unacceptable service for too long” while West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin declared it was “absolutely right that this is the end of the line” for what she described as a “failing railway operator”.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said services will be brought under its Operator of Last Resort from May 28.
This will bring the proportion of journeys on Britain’s railways which are on nationalised services to around a quarter, according to analysis by the PA news agency.
TransPennine Express passengers have suffered from widespread delays and cancellations over the past year.
Read more: 'Failing' train firm needs a 'fresh start' after spate of cancellations, mayors say
The operator, which covers an area across northern England and into Scotland, has been badly affected by drivers who are members of the Aslef union no longer volunteering to work paid overtime shifts.
Latest figures show TransPennine Express cancelled the equivalent of one in six services across most of March.
Mr Harper said: “In my time as Transport Secretary, I have been clear that passenger experience must always come first.
“After months of commuters and northern businesses bearing the brunt of continuous cancellations, I’ve made the decision to bring TransPennine Express into Operator of Last Resort.
The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan accused Mr Harper of “trying to blame Aslef – rather than the company’s inept management – for its many problems.”
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Mr Whelan claimed TransPennine Express is getting “exactly what it deserves” as it has “never employed enough drivers”.
Ms Haigh said: “This endless cycle of shambolic private operators failing passengers shows the Conservatives’ rail system is fundamentally broken.
“The next Labour government will end this sticking plaster politics by bringing our railways back into public ownership as contracts expire.”
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