[from the Yorkshire Post, Tuesday 07 August 2018]<\/p>\n
The Yorkshire Post asked TPE Managing Director, Leo Goodwin, a series of questions about their abysmal service since the timetable change. Specific questions were asked about the impact on two places, Scarborough and Slaithwaite. This is what Mr Goodwin provided in return.<\/p>\n
Still sticking to the line that it’s mostly someone else’s fault.<\/p>\n
Yorkshire Post article follows:<\/p>\n
It’s fair to say that over the last\u2028 few months, rail customers on some routes in the North have experienced significant disruption following \u2028the introduction of a major timetable change by a number of train\u2028 operators.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve said it before and I will continue\u2028 to say it until we have this sorted; I am truly sorry to anyone that has been affected by this. I frequently travel\u2028 on our services and speak to customers on board and I am fully aware of the\u2028impact that this has had on some \u2028people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
I read the comment piece by \u2028Tom Richmond in The Yorkshire Post \u2028on Saturday and hope I can now \u2028provide more balance to this.<\/p>\n
The most important thing is we continue to resolve the issues and\u2028 fully restore the level of service customers expect and deserve.<\/p>\n
To those that travel with us, it may \u2028not appear that we have taken \u2028immediate action to address the issues since May.<\/p>\n
However, behind the scenes, we\u2028 have been working with Network Rail\u2028 and other rail operators on a joint \u2028plan to improve the punctuality and resilience of train services in the\u2028North.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s really important that we \u2028all work together on this because \u2028around three-quarters of the delays \u2028to our services which have occurred since May have been caused by factors which are outside our direct control, principally infrastructure faults and delays on services run by other rail operators which have caused knock-on delays to TransPennine Express trains.<\/p>\n
As a result of these joint plans, over \u2028the past week, we\u2019ve started to see\u2028 some notable improvements in performance following the phased reintroduction of Northern \u2028services.<\/p>\n
Northern had adopted a temporary timetable which was put in place alongside positive changes made by Network Rail including a change \u2028to their train regulating policy on \u2028the East Coast Main Line (which \u2028decides the order that different trains run in and how long they stop at \u2028signals for).<\/p>\n
Our trains to and from Scarborough in particular have started to benefit \u2028from these changes.<\/p>\n
This is positive progress, but there is still more to be done.<\/p>\n
The railway in central Manchester \u2028is more congested than ever before \u2028which has had an effect on our \u2028services, all of which run through \u2028the city.<\/p>\n
We are working hard with Network Rail and other rail operators to address this issue.<\/p>\n
Our customers, including members \u2028of rail user groups, have quite \u2028rightly contacted us about the performance of our services and \u2028all of their correspondence has been responded to.<\/p>\n
We have also attended various\u2028 public meetings where people have \u2028had the chance to ask questions\u2028 and raise concerns about these issues directly with us.<\/p>\n
Our priority is to deliver the best possible level of service for our passengers.<\/p>\n
Later this year, customers across Yorkshire will begin travelling on the \u2028first of our \u00a3500m Nova trains \u2013 with \u2028this futuristic fleet being the newest in the UK.<\/p>\n
In a couple of weeks time, building work will begin on a new \u00a37m maintenance depot for these trains, \u2028which is situated just outside Scarborough station.<\/p>\n
With such positive and transformational changes just\u2028 around the corner, our priority\u2028 now is working with the rest of\u2028 the rail industry to fully restore the reliability of all services.<\/p>\n
I want to assure customers \u2028across the North of England that \u2028this is our number one priority \u2028and I thank them for their \u2028patience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Leo Goodwin is managing director of \u2028TransPennine Express.<\/p>\n
Read more at: https:\/\/www.yorkshirepost.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/leo-goodwin-my-message-to-transpennnine-express-passengers-i-share-your-pain-1-9287656<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[from the Yorkshire Post, Tuesday 07 August 2018] The Yorkshire Post asked TPE Managing Director, Leo Goodwin, a series of questions about their abysmal service since the timetable change. Specific questions were asked about the impact on two places, Scarborough … Continue reading