The Mayor of West Yorkshire has slammed TransPennine Express’s performance and called on government ministers to “get a grip” and end the suffering of passengers in the North of England.

Northern commuters have been warned today (Monday 6 March) that without improvement, TransPennine Express in on course to cancel 23,000 journeys this year.

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

This represented 10% of all cancellations in England and Wales during that time, despite the company running less than 2% of all services. Analysis by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has found that, without improvement, this will mean a total of 23,153 cancellations over the course of 2023.

Last month, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin last asked when passengers will feel improvements. First Group’s rail chief Steve Montgomery, owner of TransPennine Express, said that passengers must continue suffering through the “pain barrier”.

The operator, which runs services from Leeds and Huddersfield to Manchester, Liverpool, Scarborough, Hull and Newcastle, has often seen a third of its services cancelled on a given day. This follows a meltdown in services by the company in 2019, which required a recovery plan to be put in place.

The Department for Transport is currently examining the details of a recovery plan produced by TransPennine Express, after ministers, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, conceded that its recent performance had not been acceptable.

The company’s current contract ends in May, and despite its poor performance, government officials are considering whether to offer it a new eight-year deal to continue operating services.

Speaking ahead of the Transport for the North conference in Newcastle today (Monday 6 March), Mayor of West Yorkshire, 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.

“A full-functioning public transport network is crucial to our plans to boost the economy, achieve our climate ambitions and provide people with the opportunity to get on in life.

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

A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: “We have worked hard with the Department for Transport to improve the offer on overtime working for our drivers. We want to ensure TPE can run the services passengers deserve, and to ensure drivers can work the additional shifts they want.

“Sadly, this offer is not currently supported by ASLEF. We continue to hold talks with the union to try to find a way to resolve the issue, though the offer for overtime working stands comparison with rates across the industry. We will continue to work constructively with the union to try to find a resolution that works for all.

“We know the service levels over the past year have not been good enough and we are pulling out all the stops to make things better. Restoring driver overtime is an important part of that process and we urge ASLEF to continue to work with us in the interests of the members, the customers and the communities across our network to enable a rapid reduction in train cancellations.”