At the 24th UK Rail Business Awards ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Wednesday, 23rd February, TransPennine Express (TPE) received awards as the Train Operator of the Year and Rail Business of the Year.

The awards recognise the work done day-in, day-out to keep passengers and freight on the move, as well as the research and innovation taking place as suppliers and operators strive to improve performance and efficiency, creating the foundations for the railway of the future.

The 24th Rail Business Awards ceremony took place in front of a capacity crowd of over 450 guests and hosted by comedian Suzi Ruffell, who is one of the most promising comedy talents of her generation.

The annual awards attract scores of entries from across the UK rail sector, including leading train companies, engineering, and technology firms. As well as capturing the two titles, TPE won the Marketing and Communications Excellence Award and was highly commended in the Education and Training Excellence category.

TPE was named Train Operator of the Year and Rail Business of the Year for demonstrating overall business excellence, exceptional performance, and providing the most outstanding customer service. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, TPE’s passenger numbers grew during 2021 as improvements were delivered across stations. TPE also made great progress in improving performance and rebuilding the trust and confidence of its customers with performance remaining at over 90% throughout the year.

In the Marketing and Communications Excellence category, TPE was recognised for running a marketing and communications campaign that reassured customers that as the country emerged from the pandemic train travel was safe. The campaign was successful as 82% of customers felt reassured, 71% felt positive about rail travel, and 75% were encouraged to use trains.

In the Education and Training Excellence Category, the company was highly commended for its work undertaken at a Learning and Development Hub in Huddersfield. Here is a state-of-the-art facility called the Mission Room which offers interactive and immersive display systems. The Hub also hosts TPE’s apprenticeship programme which currently has the highest-ever conversion rate into full-time employment.

Matthew Golton, Managing Director for TransPennine Express, who attended the ceremony said: “I’m delighted that we have been named Train Operator of the Year and Rail Business of the Year as well as picking up the Marketing and Communication Excellence Award, it’s a fantastic achievement.

“I’m thrilled to see that the hard work of our colleagues has been recognised at this level and it feels particularly special given the challenging backdrop of the pandemic over the past couple of years.

“At TPE we want to be at the heart of delivering positive change for rail customers and for the communities that we serve in the North of England and into Scotland and I’m looking forward to building on our success and working with our colleagues and stakeholders to realise that.”