Mayor of West Yorkshire slams TransPennine train service as they set to cancel 23,000 journeys

Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has slammed the failing operator’s performance and called on Ministers to get a grip and end the suffering of passengers in the North of England ahead of the Transport for North Conference today.

Official data from the Office of Road and Rail shows that TransPennine Express cancelled 1,781 services during the last four-week reporting period - representing almost a quarter of all their trains between January 8 and February 4 2023.

This represented 10% of all cancellations in England and Wales during that time, despite the company only running less than 2% of all services.

When asked when passengers will feel improvements by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin last month, owner of TransPennine Express, Steve Montgomery, said that passengers must continue suffering through the “pain barrier”.

The operator, which runs services throughout West Yorkshire to Manchester, Liverpool, Scarborough, Hull and Newcastle, has often seen a third of its services cancelled on a given day.

Speaking ahead of the Transport for the North conference in Newcastle today, March 6, Mayor, Tracy Brabin, said: “Without improvement there could be an appalling 23,000 cancellations inflicted on Northern rail commuters this year by TransPennine Express.

“This is shocking and the government must hear our calls, finally get a grip and bring this situation under control.

“Without action people will lose jobs, youngsters will fail exams, and the Northern economy will go off the rails.”