I welcome the improvements that TransPennine Express is planning to introduce to its services from December following delays and cancellations throughout the summer. I have made a number of representations to the train operator and secured a Westminster Hall debate on the issue following a series of complaints from frustrated passengers. These changes are mainly focussed in the Manchester and West Yorkshire area, but I am hopeful that more efficient services to the west of Leeds will have a positive knock on effect on services going towards Scarborough.
They made the following announcement:
With the agreement of Transport for the North and the Rail North Partnership, and following consultation with their local authority members, as part of the timetable change on 09 December 2018 we will make amendments to a small number of TransPennine Express services as follows:
- The current service that operates in each direction between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds, calling at Stalybridge, Greenfield, Marsden, Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield, Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury, Batley and Morley will from this date be operated by two separate trains as follows:
- Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield, calling at Stalybridge, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite
- Huddersfield to Leeds calling at Deighton, Mirfield, Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury, Batley, Morley and Cottingley
- The current service that operates between Hull and Manchester Piccadilly will have two stops removed and will no longer call at Batley or Slaithwaite. These calls will now be made in the newly introduced Huddersfield to Leeds and Manchester to Huddersfield services respectively (as above)
- We will make changes to increase the turnaround time of Newcastle/Middlesbrough to Manchester Airport services at Manchester Airport. This does not alter the timetable for customers but will improve the reliability of these services
We are confident these changes will provide customers with a more resilient and reliable service.
We will continue to closely monitor performance and assess the impact and effectiveness of these changes and consider, particularly in light of the performance of services in and around Manchester, whether further amendments will be required to improve train service performance.
We would also like to apologise again to all customers who have been affected by any delays or cancellations since the May 2018 timetable was introduced. Compensation for eligible season tickets holders is available (https://compensation.tpexpress.co.uk/) and compensation is provided from any delays of 30 minutes or more via our Delay Repay scheme (https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/help/delay-repay-compensation). Claims should be made by 01 October 2018 for the May 2018 compensation scheme.