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Transpennine Express December 2019 Proposals

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Jamesrob637

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Unfortunately it was back to square one this morning with 50% cancelled on West Coast and 37% on North TransPennine. As a regular North TransPennine commuter between Manchester and Leeds, I’ve never known it so bad as it has been recently. An absolutely miserable commute with no certainty from day to day.
Thankfully I have an understanding employer who is giving me some flexibility but this will not last. It’s incredibly stressful and really impacts on your life outside work.

The West Coast cancellations will be due to a fatality on the line at Penrith late yesterday and stock having consequently been out of position :frown:
 
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yorkguy

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Proposals to spend £300k extending the useable platform at Malton should help timings on the Scarborough line marginally. Currently not all doors are opened on the new trains when arriving from York, so added delay is caused as people onboard have to move forward in order to get off
 

CHAPS2034

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Yorkshire Post reporting that Shapps is on the warpath over TPE performance

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/new...express-over-january-cancellations-1-10187888

Downing Street has dubbed cancellations chaos on TransPennine Express trains across Yorkshire as “totally unacceptable” with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps demanding an urgent meeting on the issue.

Delays and cancellations on the services at the end of 2019 have rolled over into the New Year with hundreds of services scrapped in January due to delays to the roll-out of new trains.

image.jpg

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak arriving in Downing Street for the first Cabinet meeting of the year. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
The cancellations will affect trains to Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, the North East and Scotland and TransPennine has apologised and announced a compensation scheme.

But today the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “These cancellations are totally unacceptable. We understand how frustrating this is for passengers who should not have to put up with these levels of poor performance.

“The Transport Secretary has demanded immediate explanations, from the operator, Network Rail, and the rolling stock manufacturers, and will be convening an urgent meeting to work out how they will improve services for passengers.

“We will not tolerate continued significant reductions to services and will not hesitate to take action if they fail to meet their contractual obligations.”

But Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald said the situation showed the privatised rail system was “simply not fit for purpose”.

He said: "The wholesale cancellation of TransPennine Express services with the dire excuse of non-delivery of rolling stock and trained driver shortages is as shameful as it is pathetic.

“Where was the planning and preparation? This fractured, fragmented privatised rail system is simply not fit for purpose."

TransPennine Express Managing Director, Leo Goodwin, said: "We know that our performance was not up to scratch at the end of last year and for this we really do apologise.

"We have experienced a number of issues following the introduction of our new trains, resulting in disruption to a number of our customers journeys with us.

“I would like to thank our customers for continuing to travel with us and it is only right that we compensate them for the recent disruption.”
 

transmanche

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At least TPE offered compensation GTR didn’t, they didn’t even apologise.
They did.

From a BBC News story on 3 July 2018:
A trouble-hit rail operator has taken out a half-page newspaper advert to offer passengers a "sincere apology" for its "ongoing problems". Passengers on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) trains have endured more than a month of disruption following the introduction of new timetables in May.
[...]
The letter stated: "We apologise sincerely and unreservedly for the impact this has had on your daily lives."
 

Failed Unit

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You were probably stuck on a train! (A joke, as I see it was published in the Metro, given away on trains.)
I wish I was. Most of the time I was stuck on a platform. ;). A bit like TPE passengers now - for exactly the same reason poor planning and greed. I can relate to them having to leave 1 hour earlier just to stand a chance of getting into work on time.

if I got on a train it was so overcrowded you couldn’t open a newspaper.

i do actually Recall hearing about it. The viewpoint was it was like two boys having a fight at school. The head teacher tells them to apologise to each other. They do to avoid further punishment. Neither mean it. That was the view of the GTR apology insincere. I wonder if TPE users feel the same way but at least they are getting some cash back.
 
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nr758123

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Neither mean it. That was the view of the GTR apology insincere. I wonder if TPE users feel the same way but at least they are getting some cash back.

This TPE user feels the same way. The apology and compensation have come now that the media spotlight has belatedly been turned on TPE.

TPE have been providing a desperately poor service for the past 20 months without offering contrition or compensation. The difference now is that the present Secretary of State and the national media are on their case, not because their service suddenly dipped below an acceptable standard in Autumn 2019.
 

tpjm

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This TPE user feels the same way. The apology and compensation have come now that the media spotlight has belatedly been turned on TPE.

TPE have been providing a desperately poor service for the past 20 months without offering contrition or compensation. The difference now is that the present Secretary of State and the national media are on their case, not because their service suddenly dipped below an acceptable standard in Autumn 2019.
I think we can all agree that the last week of TPE performance has been significantly better than the four weeks that proceeded though!
 

SuperNova

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This TPE user feels the same way. The apology and compensation have come now that the media spotlight has belatedly been turned on TPE.

TPE have been providing a desperately poor service for the past 20 months without offering contrition or compensation. The difference now is that the present Secretary of State and the national media are on their case, not because their service suddenly dipped below an acceptable standard in Autumn 2019.

That's not true though. Schapps made one small comment on TPE - only mentioning that TPE's performance around the holiday period. In fact TPE are only now getting the media attention because they proactively went out about the amended timetable (note how it wasn't picked up in December when it was first announced, but picked up on announcement of compensation scheme).

I've posted this on another thread. Journalists and politicians alike haven't remotely looked at the real issues - it's laughable but a sad state of our world these days, because the sound bite wins.

Grant Schapps/Michael Green/Sebastian Fox, or whatever pseudonym he uses, is an idiot - the interview on BBC Breakfast last week proved that, he's grandstanding. The Tories won some northern seats so need to pretend to care even though they've been at the helm for a decade and could've properly invested in infrastructure to help ease rail users lives and TOC's performance. They haven't and another Franchise of either Northern or TPE will not solve the issues that have arisen, neither will nationalisation.
 

Bertie the bus

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I think we can all agree that the last week of TPE performance has been significantly better than the four weeks that proceeded though!
Hack at the timetable a bit more so you don't run any services at all and your PPM will be absolutely superb.
I've posted this on another thread. Journalists and politicians alike haven't remotely looked at the real issues - it's laughable but a sad state of our world these days, because the sound bite wins.

Grant Schapps/Michael Green/Sebastian Fox, or whatever pseudonym he uses, is an idiot - the interview on BBC Breakfast last week proved that, he's grandstanding. The Tories won some northern seats so need to pretend to care even though they've been at the helm for a decade and could've properly invested in infrastructure to help ease rail users lives and TOC's performance. They haven't and another Franchise of either Northern or TPE will not solve the issues that have arisen, neither will nationalisation.
Here we go again... Anybody outside of the industry who makes any criticism at all is an idiot because they don't understand the issues.

Perhaps if a few more people inside the industry understood the issues there wouldn't be the same level of criticism.
 

transmanche

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In fact TPE are only now getting the media attention because they proactively went out about the amended timetable (note how it wasn't picked up in December when it was first announced, but picked up on announcement of compensation scheme).
Yes, the Newcastle Chronicle only picked up on it last Friday, 3 January:
Train passengers travelling to and from North East stations face weeks of disruption due to mass cancellations.TransPennine Express has temporarily scrapped services on the Liverpool to Edinburgh route because the roll-out of a new fleet of trains is taking longer than expected. This means that 17 of the operator's services from Newcastle, Durham and Darlington that call at York, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool are out of action until January 24.
Following-up on Monday 6 January with news about the season ticket compensation scheme:
A train operator has announced a compensation scheme for season ticket holders that will cancel out the 2.7% rail fare increase. TransPennine Express revealed on Monday that their customers who held a season ticket between October 1 and December 31 2019 will be eligible for a 3% rebate.
Yet, back on 5 December it was all sweetness and light without the hint of any problems or planned cancellations on the way:
State-of-the-art new trains are set to improve rail journeys from the North East to Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. On December 15, TransPennine Express will introduce 32 new five-carriage trains onto the route which serves the region. Services between Newcastle, Durham, and Darlington to Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester will be operated by five carriage trains instead of the current three.
 

SuperNova

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Yes, the Newcastle Chronicle only picked up on it last Friday, 3 January:

Following-up on Monday 6 January with news about the season ticket compensation scheme:

Yet, back on 5 December it was all sweetness and light without the hint of any problems or planned cancellations on the way:

Yet on 6 December a press release went out to all media organisations with the following - so why wasn't that picked up? The only media attention it got was Rail magazine. Can't say that TPE have hidden anything...

However, due to a maintenance backlog and infrastructure issues, which has caused a delay in crew training – along with the late delivery of some of our new trains, we will be operating a short-term temporary amended timetable for services between Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh to help enable the roll out of the new fleets of trains.

Commenting on the forthcoming timetable changes, Leo Goodwin, Managing Director for TransPennine Express, said: “In recent weeks our customers will have noticed that we have had to cancel a number of our services and we are truly sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused.

“To mitigate this, we will be running a temporary amended timetable on our Liverpool to Edinburgh services to ensure that we can have the trains and crew that we need to run our services, alongside providing training on our new Nova fleets of trains."
 

Camden

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I think we can all agree that the last week of TPE performance has been significantly better than the four weeks that proceeded though!
Huh???!! As far as I'm aware, the only difference is that they have cancelled an additional early morning eastbound service, abandoning any pretence of trying to get people to work at all!!

They shouldn't be allowed to charge at all right now.
 

SuperNova

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Hack at the timetable a bit more so you don't run any services at all and your PPM will be absolutely superb.

Here we go again... Anybody outside of the industry who makes any criticism at all is an idiot because they don't understand the issues.

Perhaps if a few more people inside the industry understood the issues there wouldn't be the same level of criticism.

The secretary of state for Transport should be able to grasp the real reasons behind what is happening. It is their job to do so, rather than making pointless comments to appear like they are doing something.
 

Camden

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So they cancel over half their services, and then get a pat on the head for running most of their few running services??
 

transmanche

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So they cancel over half their services, and then get a pat on the head for running most of their few running services??
No 'pat on the head'. But if it gives passengers a level of predictability and consistency, that is an improvement.
 

Camden

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So they know they can't get to work, rather than just worry they might not be able to. Comforting.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Well then, it was claimed towards the end of 2019 that all the media focus was on Northern and that TPE were not used much as an ancilliary example, but media in this 2020 time period has most certainly now switched the focus of their attention onto TPE.
 

Ben Bow

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So they cancel over half their services, and then get a pat on the head for running most of their few running services??

TPE are not cancelling "over half their services" where on earth did you make that figure up from?
 

LNW-GW Joint

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TPE are not cancelling "over half their services" where on earth did you make that figure up from?

On the Liverpool-Newcastle-Edinburgh service they are (either pre-planned or tactical).
Until this week it was the same on Manchester-Scotland via WCML with many trains failing to run the complete journey (typically turning at Preston).
 

Camden

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Well then, it was claimed towards the end of 2019 that all the media focus was on Northern and that TPE were not used much as an ancilliary example, but media in this 2020 time period has most certainly now switched the focus of their attention onto TPE.
And deservedly so. It could be argued that although Northern have been abysmal, at least their malaise has come about as circumstances (strikes due to national policies, associated overtime declines, legacy contracts, plus then delayed infrastructure causing complications as to invested in rolling stock use) and rolling stock bad luck have conspired against effort.

TPE, on the other hand, have no excuse. No strikes, no mass overtime declines, no infrastructure complications (the Ordsall chord is now a publicly admitted failure, but that itself only affects TPEs reliability, not their failure wholesale to provide services).

Additionally, on even that point, during the franchise bid the applicant could have foreseen what many have always said about the folly of running services across the Ordsall Chord to Manchester airport, and instead asked to send their 5th TPE to Liverpool. Clearly, as evidenced by the impact of not doing so, this would have "benefited the entire north", to use parlance usually reserved for the whims of TfGM.

They might have "made do" as best they can from their own corporate perspective, but simply put if they have to cancel masses of services because of lack of staff and rolling stock and workable combinations of each, then they don't have enough of either. That cannot have arisen by surprise, and therefore they could have mitigated against both the risk and the effect. Recruitment, retention of rolling stock, running sensible services and not launching new services before they are ready to operate their whole network robustly.

There are so many that should face criticism for this whole debacle, at least TPE are now getting some of what they deserve.
 
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WHAT ABOUT THE AVERAGE PASSENGER WHO HAS BOOKED ON TPE TO EDINBURGH WELL IN ADVANCE?
The 0624 ex Lime St get into Newcastle around 0918 today as it should, but being a 185 stops there.
Next service northbound service to Edinburgh is 0933 Cross Country. Guard on it announces that TPE tickets are not valid. That such passengers will have to pay full fare!!
 

transmanche

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WHAT ABOUT THE AVERAGE PASSENGER WHO HAS BOOKED ON TPE TO EDINBURGH WELL IN ADVANCE?
No need to shout.
Next service northbound service to Edinburgh is 0933 Cross Country. Guard on it announces that TPE tickets are not valid. That such passengers will have to pay full fare!!
Did the 'average passenger' think to check the TPE website or ask the conductor on the TPE train?

However, RTT shows that the train did run all the way to Edinburgh, albeit arriving 29 minutes late - having been delayed at Manchester Victoria and again just south of Newcastle.
 

Greybeard33

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In the Transport for the North Board meeting today (08 Jan), local politicians from across the North gave the managements of both TPE and Northern an all-out public hammering for the recent unacceptable performance. Particularly damning was that TPE had been warned in previous Rail North Committee meetings to be more conservative in the introduction of the new services and trains, to mitigate the risk of disruption, but had ignored this and ploughed ahead regardless.

There seems to be a plan to give TPE a deadline (tentatively the end of March) to restore an acceptable level of performance, with a second deadline, later in the year, to implement all the promised service enhancements. The Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, was present at the meeting and appeared to be on board with this.

The webcast of the meeting can be viewed at https://transportforthenorth.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/462016. The relevant section is Agenda item 8.0.
 

Ben Bow

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In the Transport for the North Board meeting today (08 Jan), local politicians from across the North gave the managements of both TPE and Northern an all-out public hammering for the recent unacceptable performance. Particularly damning was that TPE had been warned in previous Rail North Committee meetings to be more conservative in the introduction of the new services and trains, to mitigate the risk of disruption, but had ignored this and ploughed ahead regardless.

There seems to be a plan to give TPE a deadline (tentatively the end of March) to restore an acceptable level of performance, with a second deadline, later in the year, to implement all the promised service enhancements. The Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, was present at the meeting and appeared to be on board with this.

The webcast of the meeting can be viewed at https://transportforthenorth.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/462016. The relevant section is Agenda item 8.0.

I wonder how significant it was that Steve Montgomery from First Group was there?
 
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