After months of disappointment and thousands of cancellations for passengers in the North of England, the government have taken control by announcing the nationalisation of TransPennine Express.
Overcrowded carriages, rising ticket prices, frequent delays, and cancellations have left passengers frustrated highlighting the need for change. Due to this, the government has decided not to renew TransPennine’s contract on 28 May.
Instead, the government will now run the service. Whilst passengers will see no significant change to the service itself, it’s hoped that improvements will be made to the way the company operates.
TransPennine Express provide a vital link between the Northwest, Yorkshire, and Northeast England. The train company have been under intense scrutiny particularly in the last year.
In January it was announced that TransPennine had the highest rate of cancellations across the country and as a response, introduced a recovery plan to provide “greater reliability and stability” for their customers. By March they managed a 44% reduction in cancellations however, one in six trains were still being cancelled. A statistic better than before, however, thousands of passengers were still being left disappointed.
The company will now be run by the Operator of Last Resort. This is a state-owned business that operates railway franchises on behalf of the government.
We Own It is a voice for people who want UK public services to remain in the public sector. The lead Campaigner of We Own It, Johnbosco Nwogbo said that the public have “had enough of private companies ripping them off and leaving them stranded at the station.” He added that the government’s decision “goes to show that rail privatisation is a failed experiment” and that “it’s time to get our railways back on track.”
Latest figures show that once TransPennine Express come under government control, nearly one in five train journeys in Britain could be run by nationalised companies now. The government’s Operator of Last Resort already control London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Northern and Southeastern.
Hans Avlund, a regular commuter said that “something needs to be done.”
He added that he’s “been left stranded by TransPennine countless times following train cancellations. I spent 4 hours waiting for a rail replacement at Manchester Airport. It’s ridiculous. It shouldn’t be this difficult to get the train.”
In response to the news, he said that he “hopes there will be an improvement … the service can’t keep running this poorly.”
FirstGroup who currently run TransPennine Express say they are “disappointed” by the decision.
There is seemingly hope and optimism that under the government’s control, TransPennine Express will run an improved train service getting people to where they want to go more effectively and efficiently.