TransPennine Express

AClass 397Nova 2 unit in May 2025
Overview
Franchises	TransPennine Express 28 May 2023 – present
Main routes	North East England North West England Scotland Yorkshire & the Humber
Fleet	Class 185Desiro Class 397Civity Class 802AT300
Stations called at	83
Stations operated	19[1]
Parent company	DfT Operator
Headquarters	Manchester
Reporting mark	TP
Predecessor	TransPennine Express (2016–2023)
Other
Website	www.tpexpress.co.uk
System map

TransPennine Trains Limited, trading asTransPennine Express (TPE),^[2] is a British state-ownedtrain operating company that runs regional andinter-city rail services between the major cities and towns ofNorthern England and Scotland.

The company, which is owned byDfT Operator, has been the holder of the TransPennine Express franchise since May 2023. It was established following poor performance by the previous commercially owned operator, also calledTransPennine Express, from whom it carried over rolling stock, passenger services, and branding.

During the early 2020s, the incumbent operator of the TransPennine Express franchise,FirstGroup'sTransPennine Express, suffered severe disruption of its services, which was largely attributable to events such as theCOVID-19 pandemic and the2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes.^[3][4]On 11 May 2023, following numerous cancellations and service disruptions, theDepartment for Transport (DfT) announced that First Group's contract to operate the franchise would not be renewed and, as a result, TPE would cease operations on 28 May 2023.^[5][6] In its place, operations were taken over byoperator of last resort (OLR) TransPennine Trains.^[7][8]

The performance of TransPennine Trains has been criticised, being amongst the least punctual train operators during 2023, with an on-time performance of 47.7% between April 2023 and March 2024,^[1] which resulted in 311,070 delay compensation claims.^[1]It had a cancellation rate that exceeded one in eight trains during summer 2023.^[9] In October 2023, the operator announced that it would be temporarily cutting services from 320 services per day to 300, reducing off-peak trains between the cities ofLeeds andManchester, with the goal of improving both punctuality and reliability. TransPennine Trains' managing director, Chris Jackson, stated that this move allowed for greater driver training and helped to stabilise the timetable, and that the operator would reintroduce the full timetable by December 2024 at the latest.^[10][11] Shortly thereafter, the company released a new timetable comparison tool to aid customers in interpreting the service levels and changes enacted.^[12]

During early December 2023, TransPennine Trains' services were disrupted byindustrial action as the train drivers belonging to theAssociated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)trade union implemented a ban onovertime and a series of rolling strikes.^[13] That same month, the operator reinstated direct train services betweenCastleford andYork for the first time in 50 years; this service change was facilitated by recent infrastructure improvement work undertaken as part of theTranspennine Route Upgrade (TRU).^[14][15]

TransPennine Trains took over all services operated by its predecessor, FirstGroup-owned TransPennine Express, on 28 May 2023.^[16][17]

The TransPennine Express routes are subdivided into three operations:

• North Route, which includes all routes that pass through the core section betweenManchester station group andLeeds;
• Anglo-Scottish Route, which consists of services on theWest Coast Main Line;
• South Route, which includes services running on theHope Valley Line and theSouth Humberside Main Line.^[18]

As of June 2025, the following services operate off-peak, seven days a week:^[19]

Following the December 2024 timetable change, the following changes were made to services during peak hours:

• ANorthern Trains service betweenHuddersfield and Castleford was transferred to TransPennine Express. This was converted to a peak hour extension of theManchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield service to extend to York calling additionally atDeighton,Mirfield,Wakefield Kirkgate, andNormanton.^[21] This service run hourly throughout the day.^[19]
• Additional hourly services were added between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds^[19] and some Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield services are extended to Leeds. These services have varying stopping patterns ranging from stopping at all stations to only stopping at Huddersfield. These services allow for more express services between Manchester and Leeds as well as ensuring two trains per hour to stations between Manchester and Leeds during peak times.

v t e
North Route
3:53 Edinburgh Waverley( St Andrew Sq.) 3:38 East Linton 3:30 Dunbar 3:15 Reston 3:10 Berwick-upon-Tweed 2:50 Alnmouth 2:34 Morpeth 2:29 Cramlington 2:14 Newcastle 2:07 Chester-le-Street 2:00 Durham 1:47 Darlington 2:45 Saltburn 2:35 Redcar Central 2:21 Middlesbrough 2:13 Thornaby 2:02 Yarm 1:37 Northallerton 1:34 Thirsk 2:03 Scarborough 1:53 Seamer 1:36 Malton 1:12 York 1:54 Hull Paragon 1:36 Brough 1:30 Gilberdyke 1:24 Howden 1:18 Selby 1:09 South Milford 1:08 Garforth 0:48 Leeds 1:04 Cottingley 1:01 Morley 0:47 Batley 0:40 Dewsbury 0:46 Ravensthorpe 0:43 Mirfield 0:38 Deighton 0:29 Huddersfield 0:28 Slaithwaite 0:27 Marsden 0:19 Greenfield 0:17 Mossley 0:13 Stalybridge 0:00 Manchester Victoria 0:02 Manchester Oxford Road 0:00 Manchester Piccadilly 0:06 East Didsbury 0:08 Gatley 0:14 Manchester Airport 0:16 Newton-le-Willows 0:20 Lea Green 0:38 Liverpool Lime Street
Times shown are best times from Manchester Piccadilly/Manchester Victoria.

v t e
South Route
3:02 Cleethorpes 2:49 Grimsby Town 2:33 Habrough 2:27 Barnetby 2:12 Scunthorpe 2:13 Althorpe 2:08 Crowle 1:59 Thorne South 1:55 Hatfield and Stainforth 1:50 Kirk Sandall 1:45 Doncaster 1:30 Rotherham Central 1:21 Meadowhall 1:11 Sheffield 1:10 Dore and Totley 0:56 Stockport 0:42 Manchester Piccadilly 0:41 Manchester Oxford Road 0:38 Urmston 0:35 Irlam 0:33 Birchwood 0:24 Warrington Central 0:23 Warrington West 0:10 Liverpool South Parkway 0:00 Liverpool Lime Street
Times shown are best times from Liverpool Lime Street.

v t e
Anglo-Scottish Route
3:19 Edinburgh Waverley( St Andrew Sq.) 3:14 Haymarket 3:29 Glasgow Central(St Enoch) 3:13 Motherwell 3:06 Carstairs 2:15 Lockerbie 1:55 Carlisle 1:46 Penrith 1:23 Oxenholme Lake District 1:09 Lancaster 0:51 Preston 0:31 Wigan North Western 0:15 St Helens Central 0:00 Liverpool Lime Street 0:22 Bolton 0:18 Manchester Oxford Road 0:14 Manchester Piccadilly 0:00 Manchester Airport
Times shown are best times from Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Airport.

Upon commencing operations, TransPennine Express inherited the fleet of the previous franchisee. Various minor refurbishment programmes were quickly enacted. The oldest trains in the fleet, theClass 185 multiple-units, were subject to an interior deep clean, which included the replacement of all carpets. Furthermore, all of the seats were recovered and improvements to the onboard toilet facilities were made.^[22] By late 2023, TransPennine Express had also formulated its new trains programme, a longer-term initiative in which the operator stated its intention to introduce new technologies to supportdecarbonisation, the acceleration of efforts to cascade and eventually entirely remove diesel trains from its fleet, and enact a new long-term depot and maintenance strategy.^[23]

During September 2023, following a radical review by the DfT, it was announced that TransPennine Express'sNova 3 train sets, comprisingClass 68 diesel locomotives hauling rakes ofMark 5A carriages, had been scheduled for withdrawal.^[24] This rolling stock was relatively new, yet had been beset by multiple challenges including technical issues, driver training, a downturn in passengers due toCOVID-19, and noise complaints from neighbours of theScarborough maintenance facility, which resulted in a persistently low utilisation rate being achieved. The DfT believes that the withdrawal of the Nova 3 sets can be adequately offset by maximising the utilisation of other trains, such as 19Class 802 bi-mode train sets and the Class 185 DMUs.^[24] Chris Jackson, managing director of TransPennine Express, has advocated for the need to simplify the operator's fleet, resource planning, and overall business strategy.^[25]

Family	Class	Image	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
	Diesel–hydraulic multiple units
Siemens Desiro	185		100	160	51[26]	3	North Route Manchester Airport – Redcar Central Manchester Piccadilly – York via Castleford Manchester Piccadilly – Huddersfield Huddersfield – Leeds Liverpool Lime Street – Hull Manchester Victoria – Scarborough South Route Liverpool Lime Street/Manchester Airport – Cleethorpes Anglo-Scottish Route Manchester Airport – Oxenholme Lake District (one return journey)	2005–06
	Bi-mode multiple units
Hitachi AT300	802Nova 1		125[27]	200[27]	19[26]	5	North Route Liverpool Lime Street – Newcastle Liverpool Lime Street – Hull Newcastle – Edinburgh Waverley Manchester Victoria – Scarborough Anglo-Scottish Route Manchester Airport – Edinburgh Waverley via Preston	2017–19
	Electric multiple units
CAF Civity	397Nova 2		125	200	12[26]	5	Anglo-Scottish Route Manchester Airport – Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley via Preston Liverpool Lime Street - Glasgow Central via Preston	2017–19[28]

Locomotive hauled stock
Family	Class	Image	Type	Top Speed		Qty.	Carriages	Routes Operated	Built	Withdrawn
				mph	km/h
Stadler UKLight	68		Diesel locomotive	100[29]	160	14[30]	5	North Route (Until 2023) Manchester Piccadilly – Scarborough York – Scarborough (Until July 2023) Liverpool Lime Street – Cleethorpes	2016–17	2023[31] Planned to be transferred toChiltern Railways by 2026[32]
CAF	Mark 5ANova 3		Coach	125	200	52			2017–18
			Driving Trailer			14[33]

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