Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has worked with Trans Pennine Express on a service improvement plan.

The Department, which manages the contract in partnership with Transport for the North, has been in regular dialogue with TransPennine Express (TPE) to manage the provision of services in the face of prolonged national and local industrial action and a backlog of training caused by COVID.

The actions that have been agreed and continue to be discussed include:

• Ongoing review of timetables to establish a stable and reliable base in the short term;
• Introduction of additional drivers and conductors;
• More drivers recruited to reduce TPE’s reliance on rest day working and overtime;