TransPennine cancellations causing Chester-le-Street 'chaos'

Travellers have been left frustrated by repeated TransPennine cancellations at Chester-le-Street

Cancellations are causing "chaos" for passengers at a North East railway station, it has been claimed.

Only two out of 18 planned TransPennine Express services stopped at Chester-le-Street, in County Durham, on Thursday with all others ditched overnight by the operator.

Local MP Kevan Jones said it needed to explain why services were struggling.

TransPennine, which was last month put under government control amid long-term woes, apologised.

The operator runs intercity services between Scotland and the north of England, stopping at Darlington, Durham and Chester-le-Street among others in the region.

However, cancellations and delays have been widespread for several months.

'Poor service'

Labour's Mr Jones, whose North Durham constituency covers Chester-le-Street, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had written to the firm to ask for a public meeting.

"Commuters from Chester-le-Street have put up with this poor service for too long.

"TransPennine needs to explain why it is that they are withdrawing these services at short notice, causing chaos for those who rely on it."

Responding to the criticism, Chris Jackson, interim managing director, said "a detailed review" was being conducted to identify issues.

He said: "We understand that the current service levels are not good enough and we are committed to providing a stabilisation plan that will deliver the service customers expect and deserve.

"Our primary goals and my immediate priority are to restore performance as quickly as possible.

"Among the core challenges we face is that we have at least 5,000 outstanding training days for drivers which is a consequence of our operation being made very complicated over the years.

"In addition, only 50% of TransPennine drivers are currently equipped to drive the trains and routes in their roster."