Boss of troubled train operator TransPennine Express stands down

The boss of beleaguered rail operator TransPennine Express (TPE) will leave his role tomorrow after nearly 20 years with the company following a timetable change dubbed as a “reckless shambles”.
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Managing director Leo Goodwin will be "leaving the business... to pursue opportunities outside the group", First Rail - the group behind TPE - said.

And Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said he hoped this would mean an end to “the reckless shambles” of a timetable change in December which caused chaos on the rails.

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There has been major disruption on TPE services since new timetables were introduced on December 15.

Leo Goodwin. Photo: JPI MediaLeo Goodwin. Photo: JPI Media
Leo Goodwin. Photo: JPI Media

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said the company's performance was "completely unacceptable, and we understand how deeply frustrating this is for passengers".

They added: "“The Transport Secretary has been clear with the operator that they must take urgent steps to address their poor performance problems and, if appropriate, we will take action under the terms set out in the Franchise Agreement.”

Industry figures show just 39 per cent of scheduled station stops were made within one minute of the timetable between December 8 and January 4, compared with the average across Britain of 62 per cent.

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Mr Murison said “previous errors in leadership, such as resisting legitimate press and wider scrutiny, have been rightly put at his door”.

He said: “He was warned by elected leaders in West Yorkshire, he was warned by experienced operational leaders in the rail industry; yet he still started running a timetable without necessary workforce agreements or enough trained drivers for instance.

"The wider First Rail business have an otherwise much better reputation on other parts of the rail network.”

The firm has blamed train faults and crew shortages for causing disruption.

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First Rail managing director Steve Montgomery said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Leo for his contribution to First Rail. We wish him every success in his future career."

TPE Finance Director Liz Collins will act as the Interim Managing Director while the operator seeks a permanent successor for Mr Goodwin.

Mr Murison said: "It is right to assume that as they are getting a grip that improvements for their long-suffering customers here in the North can't be far behind, with engineering work linked to TransPennine route upgrade in the coming years requiring a customer-focused business working in close partnership with Network Rail."

TPE was ordered to improve by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in a January interview with The Yorkshire Post.

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High level meetings were held at the Department of Transport where Mr Shapps laid out his frustration with the operator, while at the same time threatening to strip Northern of its franchise over poor performance, which has now happened.

“I have told them they must get their act together since I won’t hesitate to escalate this further,” Mr Shapps tweeted after the talks over TransPennine Express services.

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