Agenda item

Robin Gisby in attendance to present to the Board TransPennine Train’s proposals for the future of the franchise.

Lead: Darren Oldham, Mayor Burnham, Robin Gisby.

 

4.1          Members received the covering report from the Head of Strategic Rail.

4.2          The Chair welcomed Mr Gisby to the meeting and invited him to provide an update on the current situation and the recovery plan for TPE.  Mr Gisby began by acknowledging that TPE is running its services on behalf of the passengers and communities they serve.  And whilst caring about levels of subsidy, revenue and costs they want to ensure that they are providing the best possible service.

He stated that the situation they inherited when taking control of TPE was difficult and several things which should not have happened need to be unpicked. He suggested that this may take some time and so requested patience whilst TPE stabilises the business.  

On the issue of industrial relations, he informed the Board that short term progress had been good but further work is required to improve these in order to reach a similar place as other operators.  This will be a focus for them over the next few months.

Mr Gisby explained that the focus of the business was on getting across the Pennines quickly.  He highlighted a number of issues that need to be addressed including serving local stations with TPE services that might be better served by other operators, complicated rolling stock diagrams and industrial relations.

With the regard to the plans from December 2023 he explained that they are modest but that after December, whilst they may be running fewer services initially, TPE was committed to growing the business and that they aspire to run more services in time.  

He suggested that TPE would be back to the pre-Covid position in the next 6 to 12 months.  He further stated that he wants to restore some services in December 2024 that have been dropped in December 2023.

On the situation with the Nova 3s, he expressed his view that these trains should not be running on this network.  He highlighted their lack of reliability and the difficulties in maintaining them, as well as the high financial and environmental costs that they have.

He continued, stating that he wants to rebuild TPE as an inter- urban service, connecting places across the Pennines and up to Scotland on the East and West Coast Main Lines.  He committed to reporting back to Board during 2024 on progress with the restoration of some services. He stated that he wanted to see TPE succeed and hoped TPE can catch up and overtake LNER. 

4.3          Following Mr Gisby’s update successive Members of the Board stated that they had been proved right that it was the right decision to move TPE into the Operator of Last Resort.  However, Members were concerned about the possibility of losing the Nova 3s including the impact this might have on available capacity, the perception that it would represent a backwards step in terms of rolling stock and the need to be satisfied that the alternatives would be acceptable.

In response to Members’ comments on the Nova 3s Mr Gisby was clear that the decision had not yet been made.  He highlighted that the costs of the trains are £30 million per year and spoke about what could be done with rolling stock around the network with the savings realised, as well as highlighting the opportunity for reinvestment in other areas of the business. He stated that retention of the rolling stock would not solve the capacity issue and that transferring services away from TPE that they shouldn’t be running, together with better planning would help with capacity issues.

Addressing the environmental issue, Mr Gisby explained that had the infrastructure been electrified then the units would not have been purchased.  He further stated that if he could find a battery or hydrogen vehicle to use he would replace them straight away. He informed the Board that the lease for these trains ends in May 2024 and what happens to them will need a discussion unless a solution can be found earlier. 

He highlighted that there is a significant amount of new rolling stock that the industry needs to put onto the network over the coming years.  Ensuring the new stock is ordered on time and that the infrastructure to accommodate it is ready for them is of great importance. 

4.4          Mayor Burnham raised the issue of reinstatement of services previously lost and stated that he would want to see this as the improvement plan works through and for it to happen by the December 2024 at the latest.

4.5          Mayor Rotheram and Cllr Kilbane raised the issues of passenger trust and confidence, with Mayor Rotheram calling for a concerted effort to provide better information for passengers. 

4.6          The Chair thanked Mr Gisby for the progress that has been made and his openness and looked forward to continuing to work with him.

Resolved:

That the Board’s comments be noted.