An MP says the service being provided by TransPennine Express to its passengers is in 'crisis' after a further 23 trains were cancelled by the operator on Monday.
And with the new national winter timetable launching in just two weeks, Louise Haigh said 'complacent ministers are sleepwalking into yet more chaos'.
The Manchester Evening News revealed a rail performance report delivered to Greater Manchester Transport Committee heard pre-planned service cancellations - known as P-coded trains - are continuing to be applied, 'most notably' by TransPennine Express, due to lack of crew availability.
They are removed from systems by 10pm the night before, but are not included in passenger delay repay schemes and do not count in official performance figures. The committee heard TransPennine Express were 'pulling' between 50 to 80 trains a day on some days with P-codes.
The comments by Ms Haigh, the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley and Shadow Transport Secretary, come as business leaders from the North write to the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, to warn him 'we are not able to continue as we are'.
As Mr Harper is due to meet northern mayors including Andy Burnham this week, they have collectively called for a 'rest day working agreement' to be negotiated by the operator and its staff. Otherwise, they warn, rail services could 'collapse into utter chaos' by the New Year.
In response, TransPennine Express apologised and admitted its service 'is not where we want it to be'.
A spokesman, however, reported a reduction in the number of cancelled services 'in recent weeks', blaming high levels of traincrew sickness, an intensive crew training programme, which includes a training backlog as a direct result of Covid, and infrastructure issues 'outside of our control' for the number of 'on-the-day' cancellations or cancellations the night before, some of which are coming as late as 10pm. The national rail timetable change comes into force on December 11.
Ms Haigh tweeted a screenshot of a list of cancellations announced by TransPennine Express on Monday, with many of them affecting Manchester commuters, and wrote: "23 cancellations on TransPennine Express TODAY. This service is in crisis.
"And with major timetable changes in two weeks time, complacent ministers are sleepwalking into yet more chaos."
A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: "While our service delivery is not where we want it to be, there has been a reduction in the number of cancellations we have had to make in recent weeks and providing as reliable a service as possible for customers remains our biggest priority.
"We are sorry to anyone who has been affected by this ongoing disruption. This has been caused by high levels of traincrew sickness, an intensive crew training programme (which includes a training backlog as a direct result of Covid), and infrastructure issues outside of our control, which combined have seen a number of 'on-the-day' cancellations or cancellations made the night before.
"To keep customers informed we ensure these cancellations are shown in industry systems and any pre-planned cancellations are shared via our website each evening. Anyone who is affected by their train being cancelled can apply for a refund."
Rail union, the RMT, has announced a series of 48-hour strikes on the railways in the run up to Christmas and into the New Year in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
More than 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will strike on December 13, 14, 16 and 17 and on January 3, 4, 6 and 7. They said industry bosses had failed to offer any new deals to reach a settlement.
The RMT said there would also be an overtime ban across the railways from 18 December until January 2, a step it said would mean members would be taking industrial action over a four-week period.
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