Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to news the government will not renew the contract for Transpennine Express, said:

“This broken service has comprehensively failed the north.

“After months of needless damage, Conservative ministers have finally accepted they can no longer defend the indefensible.

“But this endless cycle of shambolic private operators failing passengers, shows the Conservatives’ rail system is fundamentally broken.

“The next Labour government will end this sticking plaster politics by bringing our railways back into public ownership as contracts expire, ending the Tories’ failing system, and putting passengers back at the heart of our rail network.”