“The Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme has had a difficult start, with the Department taking more than a decade to agree a scope. As a result, passengers will have to deal with delays and overcrowding on a route that is at full capacity for longer.”
Not our words, this is the damning verdict of the National Audit Office.
Link to report is The Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme – National Audit Office (NAO) Report
Northern Agenda podcast featuring a lengthy interview with Rob McIntosh, Managing Director Eastern Region of Network Rail, on the subject of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. First 19 minutes of podcast.
Although Northern Agenda is published by Reach plc, the company responsible for what the Huddersfield Daily Examiner has become, it goes into issues affecting the North with intelligence and insight.
He references their intention to engage with communities and passengers about what the scheme will involve, which is something SMART have been requesting for several years now.
One thing he doesn’t mention, because the interview is about how TRU will impact on a much wider area, is how it will address our specific concerns about Marsden station accessibility. It has been confirmed separately, both from the then minister responsible (in response to a parliamentary question from Jason McCartney MP) and by Network Rail, that Marsden station will be made fully accessible as part of the scheme.
Link is
[EDIT: 20 June 2022] Note that the strike day timetable has been further reduced from the version published last week, so if you had planned on the basis of the first version of the strike timetable you may need to revise your plans.
Note also that Wednesday and Friday timetable has now been published and is severely reduced, with first departures from Marsden/Slaithwaite in either direction at or later than about 0900, and only 8 trains each way all day instead of the usual 25.
TransPennine Express (TPE) is asking customers to plan carefully ahead of planned RMT strike action taking place later this month on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June.
The RMT trade union has announced that their members at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies, including TransPennine Express, will take strike action on 21, 23 and 25 June. The impact of this action, which includes signallers as well as train guards and other railway staff, will mean on days when strike action is taken the rail industry will only be able to operate a very reduced level of service for a limited period of the day and on a heavily restricted number of routes.
An amended timetable will be in place on these dates, which will see a significant reduction in available services. On the days when RMT strike action is taking place TPE will only be able to operate 10% of their usual service, with large parts of the railway network unavailable for services. Trains that do operate on strike days will be heavily reduced and start/finish considerably later/earlier than normal.
TPE are advising customers to only travel if journeys are essential and to seek alternative means of transport if possible.
Customers are advised that if they do travel, services are expected to be busy and to check the status of their service before arrival at the station. Some stations on the network will be closed and on routes where trains cannot operate TPE are unable to provide any rail replacement transport. TPE have a dedicated page on their website that provides the latest information in relation to this strike action: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/strike
The only routes which TPE will be operating a reduced service on 21, 23 and 25 June are:
There will also be significant disruption on days between strike action (Wednesday 22 and Friday 24 June) and customers are asked to plan carefully and to check timetables before travelling.
Planned timetables for those services on 21st & 23rd have now been published but are subject to change. [EDIT 20 June 2022 – changed to reduce service further, same timetable published for 25th June]
Customers planning on travelling on days when strike action is taken are strongly advised to check the status of their service in advance as service alterations are possible. Refunds will be available to those who have booked travel on a strike day and cannot change to an alternative date. Bikes will not be permitted on board TPE services on strike days.
TPE are awaiting detail around ticket acceptance on affected strike days and will publish these once confirmed.
Your ticket will be valid for travel on the previous day or the next two days of any strike action and if you choose not to travel at all you will be entitled to a full refund.
If you’re planning to travel on a day affected by RMT strikes you should check for updates up to the last minute as services may be subject to short notice changes. You should also allow extra time for journeys as the services TPE are able to operate will be far busier than normal.
You can check for updates on TransPennine Express services here: https://www.journeycheck.com/tpexpress.
Matthew Golton, TPE’s managing director was questioned at the Rail North Committee on 31st May 2022, about the recent and current levels of punctuality and reliability (in case anyone comes back to read this in future years, both of which are truly awful).
Cllr Susan Hinchliffe, West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s representative on the committee, specifically asked about the impact on Slaithwaite & Marsden, making reference to a passenger who takes an overnight bag to work on the basis that he might not be able to get home the 20 miles from Leeds in an evening.
Firstly, Matthew Golton’s general comments.
TPE appear to be quite good at acknowledging that the situation is unacceptable and ok at saying sorry. [They have had plenty of practice at both of these things. It’s what comes after the apology that’s difficult.]
Also noted that TPEs passenger numbers and revenue are both between 75 & 80% of pre-covid levels, but that there is suppressed demand. [An example of suppressed demand would be evening leisure journeys into Manchester and Leeds, which cannot be made by rail at present because the level and pattern of cancellations is so unpredictable.]
Secondly, Cllr Hinchliffe’s specific questions and replies thereto.
TPE are not so good at moving beyond agreeing things are unacceptable and that they’re sorry, to questions of how they mitigate the disruption to passengers and how they restore an acceptable level of service.
