Railway 24/7 show highlights TPE’s terrible service: Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Paul A Sherwood, South Kilvington, Thirsk.

CHANNEL 5 has recently started a series covering the abysmal operations of TransPennine Express. A figure quoted referred to a 60 per cent failure rate. How does this tie in with the expectations of the ‘toothless’ rail regulator?

The first programme covered a slow-speed derailment at an extremely strategic position which prevented many trains from operating. Unfortunately these things happen. But it took 10 hours to clear the obstruction which totally disrupted operations throughout the North for an entire day. Has anything been learnt regarding mitigation by the inept senior management?

To clear this backlog of irate customers, some of which are paying over £1,000 for season tickets, TPE and other operators had to release the restrictions on tickets to enable passengers to use other services. This nonsense should not be tolerated, it should be automatic, as should financial compensation.

Even when these three coach services are running normally, if anyone can recall such a time, the services on these routes are dangerously overcrowded, people with seat reservations often find seats already taken.

The serious overcrowding shown on some of these trains leaving Leeds was a nightmare as far as safety goes. It has always puzzled me that rail operators don’t have the slightest idea of how many people are on a train; in the case of an accident they have no idea of how many potential injuries or deaths may occur.

Yet TPE staff were commenting on taking safety very seriously – they permanently turn a blind eye to safety when it comes to overcrowding, as do most UK train operating companies.

New rolling stock from Japan was two years late in arrival, no explanation as to why. Training of 700 drivers and crew on this new equipment was being carried out by taking staff off scheduled services – this must surely be another failure of inept senior management.

Then, of course, the problems of introducing new timetables. I can travel on a train in India, and look at a 20-year-old timetable Trains at a Glance and that train, which may be going 3,000 kilometres, will run every day, same time.

Why do we need this repetitive, ridiculous seasonal change of timetables?

I very much doubt there will be much change in customer needs seasonally on commuter routes.

Despite many months of correspondence with TPE and their parent company I eventually received, on May 29, a refund on two failed services, one to Manchester Airport on December 13 and one to Leeds on March 4.

The blithering, inept excuses given by senior TPE ‘executives’ was indeed gut-churning.

From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.

WATCHING the documentary on TransPennine Express, it will be an insult if the current management are allowed to keep their jobs and franchise by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

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