'Huge surge' in coach trips across the North as passengers ditch troubled trains

National Express has seen a 'huge surge' in passengers travelling on its services across the North as rail users switch to coach travel, according to the operator. More services have been running between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool since May to meet demand.

It comes after a period of 'continuous' train cancellations on trans-pennine routes and rail strikes across the country. TransPennine Express, which was nationalised earlier this year due to poor performance, cancelled one in three services in parts of the summer.

Some of this was due to industrial action, but the rail operator is also dealing with a huge backlog in training its drivers. This week, TransPennine Express announced that fewer services would be running between Manchester and Leeds from December in a temporary move aimed at improving reliability and 13 trains will be taken off the tracks to help tackle with the training backlog.

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In the last four months, National Express says it has seen a 49 per cent increase in passengers using services linking Leeds, Manchester, Manchester Airport and Liverpool. Between January and August 2023 passenger numbers were up 69 pc, compared to the year before.

In May, the coach operator increased the number of services between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool from eight to 13 a day to meet demand. The company also invested in increasing its fleet, adding three new vehicles to serve these trans-pennine routes.

Earlier this year, the company also announced an uplift in coach services between