Jason spoke in the transport questions this morning and called for TransPennine Express to be stripped of their franchise.

Enough is enough as my constituents continue to suffer appalling levels of TransPennine Express rail service cancellations – time is running out for TPE and the Unions to get a grip!

Transcript from Hansard

Jason McCartney MP

My hard-pressed constituents are still suffering a totally unacceptable number of cancelled rail services by TransPennine Express every morning—just yesterday from Huddersfield, the 6.49, the 7.01, the 7.30, and the 7.46. How on earth are my constituents expected to get to work, school, college or university? 

When will TransPennine Express get a grip and when will we strip them of the franchise?

Huw Merriman 

As the Secretary of State made clear, we should all try to fix the systemic problems that exist on the route. Let me give one example: at the moment, when a driver calls in sick—and there are sickness rates of 14%—another driver will cover it only if they are working under rest day working. 

However, the unions will not agree to rest day working, so the train gets cancelled. If hon. Members are interested in fixing these issues, they should look at the parties responsible and not just at the operator.

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