UK: Overcrowding and short-notice cancellations at state-owned TransPennine Express have declined since the December timetable change, prompting Managing Director Chris Jackson to suggest the operator is in a ‘better place’.
Changes to the TransPennine Express service pattern introduced in December 2023 appear to have delivered significant improvements, believes its Managing Director Chris Jackson.
Speaking to Rail Business UK, Jackson said the December timetable already looks more deliverable, offering hope of an end to the many months of disruption to TPE services across northern England that have caused frustration among passengers and policymakers alike.
Despite the recent bouts of severe weather that have affected most operators, Jackson says ‘the base of the timetable is resilient and much more reliable. It’s been evident in our TOC-on-self cancellations and TOC-on-self delay minutes.’ Jackson also believes that despite a small reduction in the number of services operating on TPE’s core north trans-Pennine axis through Huddersfield, ‘complaints about crowding are actually down’.
Industry data shows that in the first week of the new timetable, 20 fewer services were classified as carrying Passengers in Excess of Capacity than in the final week of the old timetable. ‘I think it shows that we’ve matched the capacity in terms of carriages to where the demand is’, Jackson says.
He also points out that so-called ‘P-coding’ — a term referring to cancellation of a service by removing it from the timetable at any point before midnight on the day of operation — has significantly reduced.
Fleet resilience
At the timetable change, TPE stood down its fleet of MkV loco-hauled coaches powered by Class 68 locos. The operator said that this would require its rolling stock partners to step up and supply the contracted number of trains every day.
TPE’s fleet is now made up of three types: 51 three-car 160 km/h Siemens Mobility Class 185 DMUs; 19 five-car 200 km/h Hitachi Class 802 electro-diesel trainsets; and 12 five-car 200 km/h CAF Class 397 EMUs for the West Coast Main Line routes.
‘They have all been aware of our timetable change and the fact we’re going to be putting an increased demand on them’, Jackson says. ‘On the whole, the fleet is holding up well and the Class 185s are doing very well; their Miles per Technical Incident [figure] is up and we’ve had some really strong days of delivery from the fleet.’
TPE is now focussing more attention on driving up the availability of the Class 397 EMUs in particular, which are based at Longsight depot in Manchester.
‘Having just one base for the sets is a challenge and sometimes it’s just difficult shipping units on and off Longsight; we don’t have enough drivers that sign Longsight that are 397 competent and Preston drivers don’t currently sign Longsight at all’, Jackson explains. ‘We would ideally like a Scottish base for the 397s so we can do a little bit more at the north end of the route and that’s something we’re exploring as part of our wider depot review.’
‘It shows that we’ve matched the capacity in terms of carriages to where the demand is’
Underpinning the Class 397 availability review is a desire to increase services over the WCML; today these link Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport with Glasgow Central and Edinburgh at the northern end of the route.
From the June 2024 timetable change, TPE is aiming to run 40 trains a day over the WCML. ‘It will essentially be going two hourly Glasgow, two hourly Edinburgh with Liverpool services remaining at a similar quantum to today. What that gives is a standard calling pattern north of Preston, which customers have been crying out for.’
TPE is also to trial what it terms a ‘much-improved onboard catering offer’ on its WCML services from the end of February.
Battery power trial
Meanwhile, the Class 802 trainset which was damaged in a shunting accident in March 2022 remains out of traffic. Although No 802 207 has now been repaired, it will not be returning to service yet, as it is receiving modifications for use as a battery testbed.
This will see a 6 m long, 2·2 m wide battery module installed in place of one of the existing engines, which will improve fuel efficiency by using two diesel powerpacks rather than three.
The battery module will provide top-up power for peak demand and give regenerative braking capability when operating in diesel mode, which the trains currently do not have. Arrival and departure at stations is also to be trialled in battery mode to assess noise and air-quality improvements. The train is planned to re-enter traffic in December.
‘We’re supplying that unit to support what we think is a sensible industry scheme to look at whether we can do something to move from bi-mode to tri-mode, which could be beneficial for the industry from a green perspective’, Jackson confirms.
Driver availability
Train crew availability remains a major challenge for many operators, and TPE is no exception. An immediate priority is extending TPE’s Rest Day Working agreement beyond March to ensure a looming bow wave of driver training can be managed effectively.
‘This is our opportunity to maximise the driver training and naturally, I’d like to engage in discussions to extend the drivers’ Rest Day Working’, Jackson says. As well as adding resilience to the timetable, this would support more driver training over vital diversionary routes and will feed into thinking around the December 2024 timetable. ‘We would like to train Hull drivers on Class 802s and throw them into the mix between Hull and Liverpool, creating a hybrid of 185 workings and 802s. That creates a nice inter-working opportunity at Liverpool.
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‘We also want to strengthen the diversionary route knowledge of Preston drivers via Chat Moss and Golborne so we’ve got that route as a “get out of jail” option, as well as getting training closed out on other diversionary routes such as the Calder Valley ahead of further Transpennine Route Upgrade work’, Jackson suggests. Initial reports suggest discussions with the drivers’ trade union have started positively.
Improving political relationships
Jackson reports that local politicians are generally pleased with the improvements delivered in recent weeks, amid signs that what has at times been a frosty relationship is now thawing.
‘The key message that I want to get across is that we can be trusted’, Jackson says. ‘I have used recent meetings to say that all of the data is pointing towards [us] having taken absolutely the right decision. [Manchester elected mayor] Andy Burnham, as Chair of the Rail North Committee, recognised what we needed to do, and he stood by us; I think there’s a bit of trust in the relationship.’
However, Jackson is aware of TPE’s fraught recent past, and he does not yet see cause for celebration, despite an upturn in basic service delivery. ‘I’ve learned enough in the railway industry to know that I won’t be celebrating the new timetable. Ultimately the proof is in the pudding; we will be judged by whether our customers see an improvement. We will just quietly beaver away fixing the basics, making improvements, delivering our transformation plan and we will do that quietly.’
New fleet ambition
While Jackson’s priority is understandably short-term resilience, he has one eye on the future, and in particular aspirations to replace the 51 Class 185 DMUs to coincide with the end of the Transpennine Route Upgrade works.
Ideally, he wants to see the trains ‘rolling off the production line into our hands for training by the back end of the decade’, but before then he wants to see much more collaborative upfront work done to specify rolling stock that will be well suited to the role they will perform.
Aiming to do procurement differently, Jackson says ‘we will do it collaboratively with ASLEF, to ensure the cabs and drivability are right and we will work closely with our customer panel to make sure we get something that’s right for passengers. I’m really excited because this train will be specified by the people who will actually operate and use it in the future; we will clean it, we will tank it, we will fuel it, we will maintain it, we will provide a catering offer and therefore we want to do something that will make them this fit for purpose’, he insists.
‘One of my big frustrations with new trains in the past is that they’ve been specified by people far removed from the operation, then when you get them in the operation you think, “Who’s specified that?”’
Light touch DOHL
Jackson is also encouraged by the support the business is receiving from its state-owned parent, DfT OLR Holdings Ltd, the government’s operator of last resort.
‘We are not governed any differently to other operators, but DOHL trusts their TOCs to manage their businesses and I am trusted to manage this business. DOHL are there when we need them and there’s a very strong safety culture from them, but they trust us to deliver and that’s what’s really important and exciting.’
He says he has ‘full freedom to make the right decisions’, pointing to the changes made in recent months as evidence of this empowerment. ‘When you look at what’s being delivered in a relatively short space of time, we’ve really moved at pace. I’ve said in a few forums that if the Secretary of State hadn’t made the decision to take the business into DOHL, we still would be seeing 20%, 30% maybe 35% cancellations.’
‘I’ve learned enough in the railway industry to know that I won’t be celebrating the new timetable’
While Jackson believes the change of ownership has been positive, he concludes by reiterating that there is a requirement to prepare the business for a return to the private sector. ‘Maybe at some point we will be returned to the private sector, that’s what is enshrined in our modus operandi.
‘If it is decided that this business goes back out to market, it has to be in a fit state and in a better state than when the DOHL button was pressed; that’s my remit’.
