North of Tyne Mayor’s statement on Transpennine Express having franchise stripped
People across the North have been suffering appalling services from TransPennine Express (TPE) for years.
I’ve heard of people having to get taxis from Manchester airport to Newcastle because trains were cancelled at short notice.
I’ve been lobbying TransPennine to improve, and lobbying the Secretary of State not to renew their franchise, along with my fellow Mayors Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram, Tracy Brabin and Oliver Coppard.
We use the trains, we talk to our people – we knew what needed to happen.
The Secretary of State has listened to us, changed his position, and decided to bring TPE back into public control.
This is good news for passengers. But unless we get more investment in our railways we won’t fix the underlying problem.
That’s why in the North East I want to use our new devolution deal to build a Total Transport Network that integrates rail, Metro, buses, park & ride and active travel, so it’s easier and cheaper to get across the region on public transport.
The travelling public deserve it, and with a better system, we’ll see more people switch from cars to public transport.
Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor