The Northern Agenda

Just over a year ago, TransPennine Express, which runs intercity services across the North of England, became the latest to come under government control due to its dire performance that had infuriated political leaders and customers.

Installed not long after as managing director was Chris Jackson, faced with some formidable hurdles to overcome if TransPennine was to get back on track, not least the refusal of unions to allow their staff to work on their days off and large number of their staff lacking the training for all its routes and trains.

It's been a challenging year - and last autumn the company had to cut the number of trains it runs on its core Leeds-Manchester service and take part of its fleet out of service to ensure there were enough trained drivers to go round.

But since then, it looks like TransPennine is on the road to recovery. But what does the future hold at a time when political leaders are keener than ever to get us out of our cars and onto public transport?

On the Northern Agenda this week, Chris tells Rob Parsons how work is going on giving the North's rail passengers the service they need and deserve, plus exciting news on the UK’s first intercity battery train.

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