Slaithwaite TPE train cancellations: A visit to the Yorkshire commuter village you can't reliably commute from

The 7.05am service to Leeds has been cancelled - meaning anyone who wanted to get there before 9am had to be on the 6.46am train to complete the 24-mile journey. The 7.35am train is due but will only be running as far as Huddersfield.

On the other platform, the 7.37am train to Manchester is cancelled, meaning the next train to reach the city 21 miles to the west won’t be along until 8.01am.

Local rail expert David Hagerty, a chartered surveyor who works in Manchester and chair of the Slaithwaite and Marsden Action on Rail Transport Group, has invited The Yorkshire Post out to the station to gain an insight into the daily experiences of commuters who have been left tearing their hair out at mass cancellations of TransPennine Express services on the route in recent months.

While the recent start of TransPennine Route upgrade work at Morley between Leeds and Huddersfield is part of the current impact, he says problems have been building since December 2021 but have been growing even worse in recent months with little sign of any improvements on the horizon.

Hagerty says: “You could ask TPE and they would say that staff shortages, a lack of staff and industrial relations issues are behind it. But after this length of time, the excuses are beginning to wear a bit thin.”

According to the latest statistics from the Office for Rail and Road, TPE services are now covering just 58 per cent of the distances they managed in 2019 - substantially the lowest rate of all operators.

TransPennine Express (TPE) had one of the worst punctuality records in the country between July and September last year, as just over half (55.8 per cent) of its trains ran on time.

TPE has been struggling with driver shortages in recent months, as they have stopped volunteering to work on rest days and the training programme for new recruits was disrupted by the pandemic. Industrial action and high levels of staff sickness have also caused issues.

The operator’s contract to run services in the North is due to expire in May and the Government must decide whether that contract should be renewed or its Operator of Last Resort should step in and take over.

At the recent Convention of the North event, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham highlighted figures which show the operator cancelled 18,587 services between November 2021 and December 2022.

Mr Hagerty says his group’s analysis suggests around 20 per cent of trains serving Slaithwaite are being cancelled.

“If you are driving to Manchester it is 50 minutes with a relatively clear road and if you are going to Leeds it is at least 40 minutes.

“Supposedly the train will get to both in about 35 minutes. If it turns up, it will still get you to Leeds in 35 minutes but you might be waiting for an hour and half for it to turn up. The situation is typically putting an hour extra travel time on people’s working days.

“You are getting people who have moved in having to move away.”

One of the first to turn up at the station for the Huddersfield train is Sue Bamforth, who works in the town as a support worker for people with learning disabilities. Without a car, she is reliant on the trains to get to work.

“Probably every week I’m affected by cancelled trains. When I finish at odd times because I can’t trust there will be a train, I have to get a taxi back which costs £9.50. It really adds up.”

As her train departs, larger numbers have gathered on the other platform heading to Manchester.

Among them is Natasha Pedersen, who has lived in the village since May after getting a job at the Manchester Museum, which is shortly due to reopen following a £15m transformation.

“Normally I get the earlier train that is cancelled today and was all of last week,” she says.

“A couple of weeks ago, there were no trains after 7pm and I had to leave work. I had to get the replacement bus and it took two-and-a-half hours to get home.

“We are busy preparing for the reopening so the situation is really annoying right now.

“I lived in Manchester before and wanted to get out of the city. I love everything here apart from the trains. I can’t move now because of a house purchase here.

“I check at night for cancellations and always check again in the morning before leaving the house.

“My message to TPE is just sort the trains out - it is so frustrating.”

Student Sam Loftus, who studies Educational Psychology at Manchester University, says the situation is “really annoying”.

With his course requiring him to do a placement on the outskirts of Manchester, he says one occasion saw his father have to drive him across almost 20 miles to Milnrow near Rochdale so he could get a tram to where he needed to be.

Another passenger waiting on the platform is a judge, who asks for his name not to be used in this article.

But he is happy to say that the situation is so bad he is actively considering early retirement rather than having to rely on the railway network any longer.

“I might bring forward my retirement date, I just can’t believe how bad it is,” he says.

“They always seem to cancel them at peak commuting times. It is not just one cancelled but there could be another straight after and then another.

“Everyone at work is put out because I can’t start until later - there are people at court waiting to know their future.”

Charity worker Lydia Sudworth says the £14.50 ticket price for getting to and from Manchester makes the situation particularly galling.

She says in December, train cancellations left her stranded in Manchester and she had to wait almost three hours while her boyfriend drove to come and pick her up.

On other occasions, her and other staff are leaving work early to continue working from home in the evening to ensure they are not caught out by cancellations.

“They should renationalise the railways,” she says.

As their train arrives, she points out that it is already running three minutes late.

On the other platform, passengers are gathering to get the train in the Leeds direction.

Among them is healthcare student Kate Nandy, who says delays and cancellations are having a direct impact on her education.

“It affects me massively because if I get to a lecture 15 minutes late it is marked as an absence. That could be for a three-hour lecture and that affects my attendance record and my access to student funding. I have had to start getting an earlier train.”

The Yorkshire Post chances across another local commuter - West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin.

She says fellow commuters refer to themselves as ‘TPE survivors’ because the situation is so bad.

“People are missing jobs, opportunities, college, funerals. It has been horrendous. People are leaving this area because they say we just can’t get to work, it is hopeless.

“TPE can’t run a service efficiently. It is just creating chaos and making people’s lives an absolute misery.”

TPE’s contract to run the service is up in May and Brabin and other Northern mayors have called for them to be stripped of the franchise by the Government.

Following the visit, TPE was contacted for comment about the experiences of those living locally, with the operator admitting its services are currently “unacceptable”.

A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: “TPE provides a hugely important service to communities across the North and Scotland. We know that the service being offered to customers is unacceptable at present and we want to assure our customers throughout the region that we are doing all we can to resolve a number of issues and deliver a train service they can rely on.

“Prolonged disruption has been caused by a combination of ongoing high levels of sickness and an unprecedented training backlog following the pandemic, coupled with increased training demands to support major route and timetable upgrades, together with the withdrawal from overtime working by ASLEF drivers which has dramatically reduced our roster flexibility.

“The biggest and most immediate positive impact for customers would be for ASLEF to allow drivers to work overtime again. Late last year we were given authority from DfT to make a new overtime offer but this was rejected by ASLEF without putting it to their members. The offer remains on the table and we encourage everyone who can influence the situation to work together to improve the situation for all.”

Before leaving Slaithwaite by car - itself not the simplest journey - The Yorkshire Post asks Hagerty whether TPE should be stripped of the franchise as Brabin and others want to see, He replies: “I can’t see any other outcome.”