Rochdale MP, , is calling on the failing train
service TransPennine Express to have its contract terminated
immediately.
Tony said, “My constituents in Rochdale
regularly tell me that TransPennine Express always lets them
down, either through late services or cancellations. They tell
me, and I agree, that enough is enough.
“That’s why I’ve supported this motion in Parliament calling on
government to step in and take over the contract. It’s the only
way we will get a train we can all rely on.”
Tony signed a Parliamentary motion demanding government takes
over the under-fire operator due to its poor performance, with
almost a quarter of all services cancelled in one month alone.
TransPennine Express has cancelled thousands of services at short
notice in recent months, cancelling almost a quarter of all
trains last month across the network. They also recorded one of
the worst punctuality rates in the country between October and
December last year with less than half of services running on
time.
The parliamentary motion calls on the government to terminate the
TransPennine Express contract and bring it under the “operator of
last resort”, meaning the Department for Transport would take
over with immediate effect. The current TransPennine Express
contract finishes in May 2023.
—Ends—
Notes for editors:-
• Office of Rail and Roads’ latest statistics show that over a
four-week period from the 5th of February to the 4th of March
that the rail operator’s score had worsened significantly from
7.2% to 23.8% after adjustments were made to include
pre-cancellations caused by a shortage of available train crew.
• The full text of the motion, and a list of signatories,
can be found here.
