Our second trip between Carlisle and Piccadilly in two weeks using TPE only advance booking with mandatory reservations for which no seats were allocated. Last time there was no problem finding a seat from Carlisle soon after 08:00 but the return journey at c20:30 from Picc saw something of a scrum on platform 14 with many left standing through Lancashire.
Yesterday our first train south (due in c10:30) was cancelled on arrival at Carlisle; the second, a Class 185 unit an hour later, was cancelled at Preston with passengers advised to transfer to a Northern service to Hazel Grove on the adjacent platform. The TPE conductor assumed ticket acceptance would be available but in the event there was no on-board ticket check on the less-than-full Class 319 service.
A colleague travelling to Edinburgh from Carlisle yesterday morning arrived 29 minutes late. He was due to return on the 22:13 but received word that it would be cancelled, as it apparently had been on Monday, so had to forgo eating and do something like the Powderhall Sprint to get an earlier train which naturally lacked anything to eat beyond shortbread and Quavers.
Another colleague travelling south from Penrith to the airport on Thursday was also met with a cancellation, necessitating a taxi trip.
All anecdotal, I know, but not a happy picture of current reliability on this route with all the training of drivers taking place.
Yesterday our first train south (due in c10:30) was cancelled on arrival at Carlisle; the second, a Class 185 unit an hour later, was cancelled at Preston with passengers advised to transfer to a Northern service to Hazel Grove on the adjacent platform. The TPE conductor assumed ticket acceptance would be available but in the event there was no on-board ticket check on the less-than-full Class 319 service.
A colleague travelling to Edinburgh from Carlisle yesterday morning arrived 29 minutes late. He was due to return on the 22:13 but received word that it would be cancelled, as it apparently had been on Monday, so had to forgo eating and do something like the Powderhall Sprint to get an earlier train which naturally lacked anything to eat beyond shortbread and Quavers.
Another colleague travelling south from Penrith to the airport on Thursday was also met with a cancellation, necessitating a taxi trip.
All anecdotal, I know, but not a happy picture of current reliability on this route with all the training of drivers taking place.
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. Any TPE services to from Edinburgh/Glasgow to MIA that have been cancelled were showing driver shortage 
. Does anyone know why I can’t reserve seats on the Edinburgh to MIA route ??