Dear Stakeholder,
In a few days, Glasgow will host the COP26 summit. As a key destination on the TransPennine Express network, we have seen an increase in bookings to Glasgow over the three weekends of the summit.
It is understandable that those attending the summit will want to travel using a sustainable form of transport for onward travel within the UK. To meet that increase in demand we have increased our services from/to Manchester Airport to/from Glasgow Central over the three weekends of COP26 to provide more seats for delegates and other customers.
Improving sustainability within TPE and driving down carbon emissions are at the forefront of what we do and, in advance
of COP26, we announced that we have joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to develop a clear set of targets to
map out how we will further drive down emissions to net zero. Timetables are key to providing customers with options that encourage greater use of rail transport and next month, following the consultation held earlier this year by the DfT,
Transport for the North and Network Rail, we and Northern will ask for feedback on the planned timetable on the outputs from the Manchester Recovery Task Force. Whilst these changes to be made at the December 2022 timetable will help to alleviate congestion around the Castlefield corridor in Manchester
it also allows for service developments on other parts of our network. Talking of which, the December 2021 timetable change will see us provide improved local connectivity for Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and the Lothians for the first time in a number of decades. Watch out for some attractive
Advance Purchase fares being launched in November for the stations on this route.
I also wanted to tell you about a new initiative that was launched earlier this month, the Service Quality Regime. Under our
National Rail Contract we are inspected every four weeks by independent inspectors that look at our service offering which
includes the cleanliness of trains and stations, the availability and serviceability of key assets on-board our trains and at stations which includes car parks as well as the accuracy
and availability of customer information. In a nutshell, it sets out new standards to improve the service we deliver to those
travelling with us.
Finally, it is great to see improvement works at Malton (platform works) in the final stages of being completed and I thank our partners at Network Rail for their support in delivering them.
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