Train operator apologises to Greenfield station passengers

The train station at Greenfield

A frustrated rail passengers action group has accused a major train operator of “showing contempt” to customers travelling from Oldham’s only mainline rail station.

Mark Ashmore, speaking on behalf of the Greenfield Rail Action Group, said: "Transpennine Express without warning removed all the extra peak trains this week and not all services have been strengthened to a six-car service.

“There is only an hourly service at Greenfield and trains and packed and some passengers left behind.

"It was standing room only on some trains at Greenfield on Monday while passengers were left behind at Piccadilly in the evening peak.

“The train doors were closed almost 10 minutes before departure on one train - so get there early if at all possible.

"I would urge everyone to move down the train and ensure absolutely everyone is on board before the doors are allowed to close even if it delays the train. 

“Remember there isn’t another for a whole hour so look out for your fellow passengers,” he said.

“This treatment by TPE shows the contempt TPE has for local passengers and is a reversion to the bad old days of 2018 which the local Rail User Group had thought had been put behind us.”

Chris Jackson, Managing Director at TransPennine Express, responded by saying: “We apologise for any discomfort and inconvenience some customers are currently experiencing due to engineering works as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

“As a result of work taking place this week (Monday 19 February - Friday 23 February) we are running a reduced number of peak time services between Manchester and Huddersfield.

"We are operating as many trains as we can while the work is ongoing and, for the remainder of the week, we will make sure some of our other services which would not normally call at stations on this route make additional stops to help our customers get where they need to be.

“We know our services on the route are busier than normal, and we are asking our customers to allow for additional time to travel and to check carefully for the latest travel updates beforehand on our website, at National Rail Enquiries or via our social media channels.”

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