Major disruption to TransPennine Express services as more than 70 trains cancelled at short notice
More than 70 TransPennine Express trains have been cancelled at the last minute today (Tuesday 20 December), with warnings there are likely to be more cancellations throughout the day, as rail passengers are urged to check before travelling.
A large number of trains across the network, including between Scarborough and Manchester Piccadilly, York and Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly, and Hull and Liverpool are subject to short notice cancellations, with other services amended.
The rail company says it's had to cancel many of its scheduled services due to the "ongoing impact of higher-than-normal sickness levels and a number of other issues including a training backlog as a direct result of Covid".
A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: "Prior to December 2021 TransPennine Express (TPE) had posted its best ever performance results, and was subsequently recognised as "Train Operator of the Year" at the Rail Business Awards.
"Since then, prolonged disruption affecting our services has been caused by a range of issues including ongoing high levels of train crew sickness, a persisting training backlog as a direct result of Covid, and infrastructure issues outside of TPE’s control. Combined, these factors have seen a number of on-the-day or ‘evening before’ cancellations being made.
"In normal circumstances, we have enough people to fully operate our scheduled timetable – and have more drivers now than ever before – however the combination of factors has put unprecedented pressure on our ability to effectively operate our services.
"Our customers want, and deserve, reliable and punctual train services, and we are sorry have not been able to consistently provide that due to the ongoing issues. TPE’s team continues to work flat-out to deliver higher levels of service delivery and to tackle the issues that are being experienced by customers."
The cancellations come after a recent wave of strike action caused major disruption across the rail network last week, with more walkouts planned for later this week affecting East Midlands Railway.
The next planned RMT union strike action affecting TransPennine Express is scheduled for the first week of January, but the operator says services on Christmas Eve will finish early due to strike action affecting Network Rail, and is advising passengers to only travel if essential.
TransPennine Express is advising customers to ensure they check before heading to the train station this week as there may be further disruption in the run up to Christmas.
The website reads: "We are sorry for any disruption that this may cause to journeys in the coming days and ask you to allow additional time for travel and to check carefully – up to the last minute – for any changes to train times.
Trains cancelled on Tuesday 20 December:
Liverpool/Manchester – Cleethorpes/Sheffield
09:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Cleethorpes due 12:53
10:26 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 14:00
13:24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 17:00
14:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Cleethorpes due 17:50
15:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Cleethorpes due 18:53
15:24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 19:01
16:24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 20:00
17:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Cleethorpes due 20:50
18:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Cleethorpes due 21:50
18:24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 22:00
19:24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street due 23:00
20:24 Cleethorpes to Manchester Airport due 23:24
21:24 Cleethorpes to Sheffield due 23:19
23:31 Manchester Airport to Sheffield due 01:26
Manchester/Liverpool/Leeds – Manchester/Liverpool/Hull
09:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 12:25
10:00 Hull to Liverpool Lime Street due 12:31
12:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 15:25
13:03 Hull to Liverpool Lime Street due 15:31
15:03 Hull to Liverpool Lime Street due 17:31
15:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 18:35
16:03 Hull to Liverpool Lime Street due 18:35
16:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 19:27
17:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 20:25
18:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Hull due 21:31
19:03 Hull to Manchester Piccadilly due 20:56
21:03 Hull to Leeds due 22:10
22:23 Leeds to Hull due 23:29
23:08 Hull to Leeds due 00:20
Manchester – Manchester/York/Huddersfield/Leeds/Saltburn
12:51 Saltburn to Manchester Airport due 16:09
14:44 Manchester Airport to Saltburn due 17:58
18:53 Saltburn to Manchester Airport due 22:10
22:40 Manchester Airport to York due 01:14
23:40 Manchester Airport to York due 02:18
Manchester/York – Scarborough
09:35 Manchester Piccadilly to Scarborough due 11:53
10:35 Scarborough to Manchester Piccadilly due 13:04
11:20 York to Manchester Airport due 13:09
11:35 Manchester Piccadilly to Scarborough due 13:53
13:35 Manchester Piccadilly to Scarborough due 15:53
13:48 Scarborough to York due 14:38
14:48 Scarborough to Manchester Piccadilly due 17:12
16:04 York to Scarborough due 16:54
16:48 Scarborough to Manchester Piccadilly due 19:14
20:58 Scarborough to York due 21:48
22:03 York to Scarborough due 22:53
Manchester/Liverpool/York – Leeds/Newcastle
22:01 Newcastle to York due 23:02
Leeds/Manchester/Liverpool - Huddersfield
13:47 Leeds to Huddersfield due 14:22
13:58 Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield due 14:41
14:49 Huddersfield to Leeds due 15:29
14:54 Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly due 15:39
18:54 Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly due 19:38
22:54 Liverpool Lime Street to Huddersfield due 00:14
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