TransPennine nationalised

NorthumberlandBoro said:
Awful train operator these past years.
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It depends how you look at it. The repeated cancellations are a ball ache. But the scheduled service, for Boro and Redcar at least with the hourly service to Manchester, is streets ahead of that of my youth what some think of as the golden age, when Manchester and even Leeds usually were irregular service with two changes, and BR insisted the direct route was viable as a freight diversion only. Even with cancellations it’s better than that.

The test will be whether the new “operator of last resort” does a better job of running the timetabled services by sorting the overtime issue out, or whether it just gives up and we go back to getting the dregs that used to be out lot.
 
FishofContemplation said:
It depends how you look at it. The repeated cancellations are a ball ache. But the scheduled service, for Boro and Redcar at least with the hourly service to Manchester, is streets ahead of that of my youth what some think of as the golden age, when Manchester and even Leeds usually were irregular service with two changes, and BR insisted the direct route was viable as a freight diversion only. Even with cancellations it’s better than that.

The test will be whether the new “operator of last resort” does a better job of running the timetabled services by sorting the overtime issue out, or whether it just gives up and we go back to getting the dregs that used to be out lot.
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Something had to happen with 1 in 6 trains being cancelled, it really shouldn't be hard to improve on that.
 
One of the biggest problems with TPE is the way they localised the train crews. The Newcastle-Liverpool service now requires three separate crews: one to run Newcastle-York, one to run York-Manchester and one to run Manchester-Liverpool.

That makes sense if you have 100% staffing, and you get some neat efficiencies by keeping teams in one place. But back in the real world of staff absences and a refusal to work outside contracted hours, it triples the likelihood of a service not having sufficient staff to run.

I used to get TPE to and from each home game. This year I've switched to getting the coach up to Boro. It now looks like from next year I've got a better chance of getting a coach back too. So they've already lost my custom and I can't see why I'd ever go back to them.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Something had to happen with 1 in 6 trains being cancelled, it really shouldn't be hard to improve on that.
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oh yes it shouldn’t be. My fear is the easiest way is to take 1 in 6 trains (or 1 in 6 of the train mileage) off the timetable. And send us back to the “good old days” of changing at Darlington and York. Maybe that’s my natural pessimism and assumption that we always get shafted even by the bigger northern cities never mind those in that London. We’ll see.
 
FishofContemplation said:
It depends how you look at it. The repeated cancellations are a ball ache. But the scheduled service, for Boro and Redcar at least with the hourly service to Manchester, is streets ahead of that of my youth what some think of as the golden age, when Manchester and even Leeds usually were irregular service with two changes, and BR insisted the direct route was viable as a freight diversion only. Even with cancellations it’s better than that.

The test will be whether the new “operator of last resort” does a better job of running the timetabled services by sorting the overtime issue out, or whether it just gives up and we go back to getting the dregs that used to be out lot.
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In the late 70's I regularly caught a Friday afternoon train to Lime Street from Boro, without changing as far as I can remember.

There's little point in having a schedule if you can't run a service to meet it.

Also, why the extension to Redcar, it doesn't make sense at all. The national services should feed the main towns with local services taking over from there, train or bus keep it simple, it may just work.
 
FishofContemplation said:
oh yes it shouldn’t be. My fear is the easiest way is to take 1 in 6 trains (or 1 in 6 of the train mileage) off the timetable. And send us back to the “good old days” of changing at Darlington and York. Maybe that’s my natural pessimism and assumption that we always get shafted even by the bigger northern cities never mind those in that London. We’ll see.
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I think you need a top-up, your glass is half empty. ;)
 
Transpennine are unreliable but they do use the worst tracks though, especially for the sections which go cross country, can't imagine that makes things easy for them. They also play second fiddle to ECML and WCML trains staying on the mainlines, which wrecks their program and staffing too I expect.
 
Andy_W said:
Transpennine are unreliable but they do use the worst tracks though, especially for the sections which go cross country, can't imagine that makes things easy for them. They also play second fiddle to ECML and WCML trains staying on the mainlines, which wrecks their program and staffing too I expect.
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That’s what the Northern Powerhouse gets us
 
The trains are too expensive to use now anyway.
Since Chris Grayling got involved about 10 years ago and put too many trains on an already crowded time table things have got worse.
What should have happened is more carriages on the optimal number of trains.
Trouble is that would have required investment to lengthen platforms.
No investment, just put the fares up, take the money out blame the operators.
Welcome to rip off Britain
 
1finny said:
That’s what the Northern Powerhouse gets us
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I think they're still upgrading a load of it, but not to the scale it was meant to.

Hope it does get sorted out like, as the train to manchester airport was my holiday "go to"
 
On Manchester Piccadilly last night and at about 21.45 the tannoy announced that the 21.58 train to York was cancelled and replaced by a bus ........but the bus hadn't arrived yet so please wait on the concourse! God know what time ppl will have got to York as it had to stop at all the stations en route - assuming the bus turned up that is
 
clay said:
One of the biggest problems with TPE is the way they localised the train crews. The Newcastle-Liverpool service now requires three separate crews: one to run Newcastle-York, one to run York-Manchester and one to run Manchester-Liverpool.

That makes sense if you have 100% staffing, and you get some neat efficiencies by keeping teams in one place. But back in the real world of staff absences and a refusal to work outside contracted hours, it triples the likelihood of a service not having sufficient staff to run.

I used to get TPE to and from each home game. This year I've switched to getting the coach up to Boro. It now looks like from next year I've got a better chance of getting a coach back too. So they've already lost my custom and I can't see why I'd ever go back to them.
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Same mate, coach is always on time, always quite cheap, and you don't have to fight for a seat. There aren't as many of them but they do suit the kick off times too.
 
That's the main problem, as a conductor I know told me, the stupid rostering of staff.
If one person doesn't turn up it falls apart.
It would more sense if a driver and conductor worked from Newcastle to Liverpool and back, Scarborough to Manchester and return etc..
That's basically a shift and the train gets there and back, but that's too simple.
We have enough staff in Scarborough to run a proper service but we get cancellations all the time with no alternative service.
 
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