Newcastle to Leeds and Manchester trains now one per hour

TransPennine Express (TPE) has announced plans to cut back its timetable in December amid driver shortages, leaving just one hourly service from the North East to the North West.

The move is part of a “stabilisation” plan for the rail operator, which was nationalised earlier this year following complaints over massive travel disruption caused by regular cancellations.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon, who chairs the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC), said that TPE’s efforts to make its timetable more reliable “should not come at the cost of reducing the already vulnerable link” from Newcastle to Manchester.

Under the new timetable, due to come into force on December 11, all 12 daily services between Newcastle and Manchester Piccadilly will be scrapped.

The only remaining service to the North West will be an hourly TPE train to Liverpool Lime Street, which calls at Manchester Victoria.

A report to the JTC warns that additional stops on that lone service will mean it will take around 11 minutes longer to get to Manchester Victoria than previously and 18 minutes longer to get to Liverpool Lime Street.

There were two trains every hour between Newcastle and Manchester prior to the Covid pandemic, while the current timetable has three such services every two hours.

Coun Gannon said: “The North East Joint Transport Committee wants to see a railway that works for our residents and businesses – providing a robust, reliable service which opens up opportunities for all. Our region’s position remains that there should be at least two trains per hour between Newcastle and Leeds/Manchester, given the strategic importance of this vital link, and of course the need to grow the North’s economy.  

“It is good that TPE recognises the urgent need to make its services more reliable. Over recent years it has become almost entirely unreliable, with eye-watering levels of cancellations due to staff shortages. However, TPE’s improvement plan should not come at the cost of reducing the already vulnerable link between the North East and Leeds/Manchester, further undermining passengers’ confidence in using rail to travel across the North.”

TPE said on Thursday that the timetable cuts would “enable us to improve reliability, trust and confidence” and that it hoped to restore the lost services by December 2024 at the latest.

The Government’s operator of last resort, which has also run the Northern franchise since 2020, took control of TransPennine from the First Group in May this year.

That decision came after high levels of cancellations, with the company being impacted by an industrial dispute with train drivers’ union ASLEF that saw drivers refuse to do overtime shifts.

TPE managing director, Chris Jackson, said: “December 2023 provides us with a great opportunity to restore reliability and stability to our services. We have spent several months compiling the new timetable and have worked hard to develop a version that will give everyone greater confidence in TPE.

“We understand the part we play in the local communities and our aim has been to give our customers a rail service they can rely on to get them where they need to be. To do this, there will be some temporary amendments to the timetable between the north west and north east of England to deliver improved punctuality and reliability for customers from December 2023.

“This is a step forward in addressing some of the issues that have impacted on our reliability and ultimately delivering a more stable and resilient service for customers.”

There had previously been an outcry in the North East over plans to cut the number of trains to Manchester in order run faster and more frequent services to London instead, before that plan was put on hold by LNER.

Those changes would also have meant major reductions in the number of services stopping at many important North East stations – 29 fewer in Darlington every day, eight in Durham, 21 in Morpeth, and six in Berwick.

Coun Gannon told a JTC meeting on Tuesday that he would write to the rail minister about the future of rail connections from the North East as “we don’t want a decision made behind our backs”.