After a year of strikes and cancellations, rail commuters between Liverpool and Manchester can expect more misery as TransPennine Express announced timetable changes which will lead to reduced services.
The changes are part of a major timetable shake up across the network. Transpennine Express, which operates trains between Lime Street and Manchester Victoria, will reduce the number of trains from three per hour to two during off peak times.
A spokesperson from TransPennine Express said: "This plan is a temporary reduction in our timetable from December 2023, which will help us to restore reliability and stability to our services."
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Chris Jackson, the Managing Director of TransPennine Express, said in a statement: “December 2023 provides us with a great opportunity to restore reliability and stability to our services. 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."
These reductions are temporary with TransPennine Express hoping to return services to normal by December 2024 at the latest. The changes to the timetable are impacting the entire network with Transpennine trains between Manchester and Leeds also facing cuts.
The Yorkshire Post reports the network has suffered from a lack of fully trained drivers with just 70% being able to drive on all routes. Transpennine plans to accelerate the training programme during the timetable changes.
The timetable reductions coincide with the rail provider's launch of "Make Journeys Better: A Prospectus" which puts forward a plan to improve reliability on the network. Reliability being one of the key factors that led to Transpennine Express being named the worst rail operator in the UK in March this year with one in six services being cancelled that month.
Frequent cancellations and an all around subpar service led the Government to take control of the rail operator in May. The Government stressed this is a temporary measure until TransPennine improves its services and the Make Journeys Better plan is part of that improvement.
Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at the Tory Party Conference the cancellation of the HS2 branch to Manchester. In the same speech Sunak announced Network North which promises to spend £36bn on transport.
The plan includes a pledge to invest £12bn on the railway between Manchester and Liverpool in a bid to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail. A highspeed railway network across the North first proposed almost a decade ago.
With continued reductions in services and disruptions from strikes, for commuters between Liverpool and Manchester, Network North seems a long way away.
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