TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS has removed Class 68-hauled trains from its southern route to Cleethorpes in an effort to improve service reliability.
The final train was the 15.24 Cleethorpes to Liverpool Lime Street on July 28. This was powered by 68032 Destroyer, which hauled Mk.5A set TP13, formed of vehicles 11513, 12737-739 and 12813.
TPE had already planned to reduce the number of locomotive-hauled diagrams from six to five from the start of the May timetable. However, this latest decision was made following an operational deep dive by new management after the Government took over operating TPE from First-Group at the end of May.
It was identified that a quick way to make TPE more resilient would be to remove the Nova 3 fleet from the Liverpool to Cleethorpes route. TPE said that by doing this, two services that have been routinely cancelled due to unavailable locomotive-hauled trains could be reinstated using TPE Class 185s.
The Nova 3s have been dogged by reliability issues, including in recent weeks the discovery of cracks on two sets, with a further three sets showing early signs of suffering similar problems. Each remaining operational set must undergo additional safety checks before entering service each day.
A lack of driver training on the Nova 3 sets, caused by dela
