The boss of the rail operator that runs Avanti West Coast and Transpennine Express has apologized for the disruption in services that passengers have experienced in recent months.
First Rail chief executive Steve Montgomery told the BBC the problems were caused by a backlog of driver training during the pandemic.
He said the company was unable to fill the gaps due to sick leave and drivers’ lack of overtime.
“We apologize to customers,” he said.
He added: “We understand the inconvenience this is causing people in their daily lives. And we are trying to correct that at this moment.”
Passengers have been suffering from disruptions in the rail network for a long time. Avanti West Coast and Transpennine Express have come under particular criticism for reduced schedules and cancellations.
Avanti West Coast cut its timetables in August, with trains between London and Manchester taking the hardest hit.
The operator cut its timetable from seven trains per hour to at least four trains on August 14 and stopped selling tickets, blaming “severe staff shortages”.
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Asked if he would acknowledge that the situation across northern England had not been good enough, Mr Montgomery said: “I acknowledge it because we are canceling too many trains” and said he understood customers’ frustration.
He said the operator employs “more than enough drivers” but has had to catch up on their post-pandemic training. It takes 12 to 18 months for a driver to qualify.
Using days off or overtime to meet schedules has been common practice in the rail industry for years.
Avanti said drivers suddenly stopped volunteering for overtime over the summer, prompting the company to cut its schedule to reduce cancellations.
At the time, the Aslef drivers’ union dismissed allegations of an unofficial strike and said the company should recruit enough staff – but acknowledged there had been a loss of goodwill.
Avanti is now slowly rebuilding services and has promised a full schedule in December that will not rely on rest day work.
Transpennine does not currently have an agreement with drivers regarding rest days. Aslef has accused it of not running enough drivers to run the promised services.
It operates a reduced timetable between the North West of England and Scotland and cancels daily on its network, both the night before and the day. More than 50 services were canceled the night before on Thursday.
Mr Montgomery insisted other rail companies were also suffering from driver shortages and the industry needed to deal with it.
“We understand that we have a lot of work to do to rebuild customer confidence,” he said, adding that the company does not want to remain in the position it is in.
“We were able to cover services within Avanti, [but] We’ve lost the ability to do this the way we used to, with the elimination of day off work.
“We need to move forward now, we can’t always look back… we need to restore customer confidence and that’s what we’re trying to do with the launch of the December roadmap.”
Newly appointed Railway Secretary Huw Merriman told the BBC the Government saw “absolute urgency” with the situation with rail services in the north of England.
“We are committed to providing better services to those parts of the North that are struggling,” Merriman said.
“Part of that solution also envisages a breakthrough and an end to labor relations issues, which are a big factor in the deterioration of services.”
He added: “We recognize that passenger services are unacceptable,” stressing that incoming Transport Secretary Mark Harper sees this as a priority. Mr Harper will visit mayors in the Labor capital of northern England who have called for urgent action.
Last month, the Department for Transport warned that Avanti West Coast had to “improve services drastically” after extending its contract to operate the London to Glasgow route by just six months.
The decision means operations will continue until April next year.
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