Are Trans Pennine Express reliable ?

[Willie Bee]

I am thinking about booking a trip to Manchester from Newcastle and note that the service is run by TransPennine Express.

I've been at Newcastle station a couple of times over the past few weeks (actually both on a Sunday) and on each occasion, TPX have been operating a replacement bus service to York ... not really what you want to see with a railway company. If I wanted to travel by bus, I am sure I could book directly for a cheaper price

 

[ainsworth74]

I've been at Newcastle station a couple of times over the past few weeks (actually both on a Sunday) and on each occasion, TPX have been operating a replacement bus service to York ... not really what you want to see with a railway company. If I wanted to travel by bus, I am sure I could book directly for a cheaper price

There's been engineering work the last few weekends so the mainline was shut with LNER diverting via the Durham Coast and other operators operating buses.

That being said TPE are having a serious issue with reliability at the moment however it is unlikely, unless you're travelling at the extreme of the day, that you would be stranded or end up on a bus just delayed by perhaps an hour if you have to wait for the next TPE service.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Willie Bee. Can you advise the times / day(s) of the week that you are likely to be travelling.

There are websites such as 'Recent Train Times' that collate recent train running performance data, which should then give you a better idea of TPE reliability on this route.

Search - Recent Train Times

 

[40129]

in my experience they've been very 'reliable' recently. Two times in the last month I've saved at least half an hour by catching a late running Trans Pennine Express and not having to wait for a Northern local

 

[Bletchleyite]

In short, no, TPE are not reliable. Leave plenty of time and expect to stand. Sadly there's not a decent alternative rail operator for that journey, though there are convoluted options if you've got plenty of time.

 

[Willie Bee]

@Willie Bee. Can you advise the times / day(s) of the week that you are likely to be travelling.

There are websites such as 'Recent Train Times' that collate recent train running performance data, which should then give you a better idea of TPE reliability on this route.

Search - Recent Train Times

Thank you for your reply
No definite dates yet .. but probably leaving Newcastle on a Monday morning at about 10:00, returning on a Thursday, leaving at about 14:30. Service probably better during the week, rather than at weekends
I had never heard of that website .. I'll have a look .. thanks again !
Regards !

 

[185]

Their prosecutions department are extremely reliable, i'm told. Not quite sure about the rest of the business. Ahem.

 

[plugwash]

Sadly there's not a decent alternative rail operator for that journey

My advice would be to just start moving in the right direction ASAP on whatever trains are available, at Newcastle look for trains going to York. At York look for trains going to Leeds.

Yes TPE are the only operator running a reasonablly fast service from Leeds to Manchester, but there will be a lot more services from Leeds than from Newcastle, and if things get *REALLY* bad there are northern trains from Leeds to Manchester which IIRC take a totally different route from the TPE ones.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

My advice would be to just start moving in the right direction ASAP on whatever trains are available, at Newcastle look for trains going to York. At York look for trains going to Leeds.

That's reasonable advice, if multiple change of trains isn't an issue, particularly so if travelling on a walk-up semi-flexible Newcastle to Manchester Stns ticket, such as an £87.30 Route "Any Permitted" Off Peak Return (SVR).

See also comment below by @mike57, if travelling on specific TPE advance tickets.

 

[mike57]

In a word, NO. Journey checks show 55 cancellations across their network today, and another 17 alterations which are mainly services starting or stopping short. That's pretty typical. If you buy advance tickets then you enter the ticket acceptance lottery (will they, wont they let you use them on another operator). If you buy an open ticket you pay top dollar for what is probably going to be poor service. Oh and good luck with delay repay when you need to make a claim.

 

[alansheppard77]

I am thinking about booking a trip to Manchester from Newcastle and note that the service is run by TransPennine Express.

I've been at Newcastle station a couple of times over the past few weeks (actually both on a Sunday) and on each occasion, TPX have been operating a replacement bus service to York ... not really what you want to see with a railway company. If I wanted to travel by bus, I am sure I could book directly for a cheaper price

very unreliable company,probably the worst in the country,my advice is always have a backup plan

 

[Willie Bee]

In a word, NO.

you pay top dollar for what is probably going to be poor service. Oh and good luck with delay repay when you need to make a claim.

Oh dear, maybe I should just get the campervan out and drive there ... no hotel costs also

Just a pity my wife prefers the luxury of a hotel and full English breakfast to the cramped VW campervan bed followed by burnt toast

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Newcastle -> Manchester is eminently do-able without relying on TPE, but you will then have to change trains, at somewhere like York, or Leeds, or maybe even at Carlisle!

 

[mike57]

maybe I should just get the campervan out and drive there

May be worth looking at split tickets, XC Newcastle - Leeds and Northern Leeds - Manchester via the Calder Valley, takes a bit longer (30 min ish) but whilst not perfect Northern are better than TPE. I think XC will be more expensive than TPE

 

[plugwash]

I guess the question is what kind of prices can you find on said advance tickets, and is the saving compared to just buying the walk-up off-peak return worth the hassle and stress of dealing with a fixed itinerary.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh dear, maybe I should just get the campervan out and drive there ... no hotel costs also

Just a pity my wife prefers the luxury of a hotel and full English breakfast to the cramped VW campervan bed followed by burnt toast

You can park a campervan in a hotel car park and sleep and eat breakfast in the hotel!

 

[Watershed]

TPE has unfortunately become one of the most unreliable operators in the country. Around 20-40% of their services are cancelled, either on the day or (more commonly) the night before in an attempt to try and pretend that these services never formed part of the timetable. Almost all of these cancellations are due to a massive difference between the available crew and those required to run timetable, which TPE claims to constitute a shortage of traincrew - but to me just seems to represent a failure to suitably reduce the timetable.

I'd reckon with arriving an hour or two late, and consider yourself lucky if you arrive on time.

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

I have been back out and about on the railways around West Yorkshire this week for the first time in about 5 months. I can't believe how much worse TPE have gotten in that time. It seemed like half of the journeys I saw yesterday in Leeds and Huddersfield were cancelled, and the journeys that were running were only allocated 3 car 185's; which of course ended up being EXTREMELY crowded. So in response to your question: no they are not reliable at all.

 

[Willie Bee]

I have been back out and about on the railways around West Yorkshire this week for the first time in about 5 months. I can't believe how much worse TPE have gotten in that time. It seemed like half of the journeys I saw yesterday in Leeds and Huddersfield were cancelled, and the journeys that were running were only allocated 3 car 185's; which of course ended up being EXTREMELY crowded. So in response to your question: no they are not reliable at all.

Yes, i think I'll give them a miss .. it would be annoying to book a hotel, then find the train was cancelled.

Other routes are probably the best idea, via York, Leeds etc, or even Carlise, for a scenic ride

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, i think I'll give them a miss .. it would be annoying to book a hotel, then find the train was cancelled.

Other routes are probably the best idea, via York, Leeds etc, or even Carlise, for a scenic ride

If going via Carlisle, use Avanti to Preston then change to Northern. TPE on that bit are no better than the actual trans-Pennine bit, indeed sometimes worse. Though Avanti are hardly angels either they don't seem too bad at the moment.

 

[D6975]

This was at Barnetby on Thursday last. As you can see, anyone wanting to return to Doncaster or beyond was stuffed. 3 of the 4 trains running were EMT services.

 

[Seehof]

Much is being said everywhere at how bad TPE are but what are they actually doing to make it more reliable and when will things go back to normal (if ever!)