Grand Central rail boss apologises to passengers after Hartlepool train cancellations

The firm’s Monday-to-Saturday timetable schedules six Hartlepool to London King’s Cross return trains with five on Sundays.

However, one angry North-East passenger says cancellations are numerous, adding: “There are two morning trains. One day last week they cancelled both. About 20 of us were told there was nothing else in place. So we couldn’t jump on LNER or whatever.

“If you look at their Twitter, every day it’s cancel, cancel, cancel. I was talking to another guy who was supposed to get a flight from Heathrow. He missed it. They need new trains.”

Sean English, chief operating officer for Grand Central, apologised for the cancellations, adding: “Unfortunately, several factors have led to recent reliability issues with the current fleet of 180s, and have left us suffering from unit availability problems.

"We have been working closely with train maintainers to resolve the position through a recovery plan that is being managed at a senior level across Grand Central, Arriva UK Trains and our maintenance supplier.

“As it stands, the position is seeing some improvements, perhaps not at a pace we would like, but nonetheless an improvement.

“Additionally, we are also reviewing some options to obtain additional trains.

"This process can take some time to implement but we are working as hard as we can, both on the recovery plan and the possibility of acquiring additional trains to return to a level of service our customers both expect and deserve from Grand Central.”

Service updates are available via Grand Central’s social media channels, its www.grandcentralrail.com/ website or by ringing 0345 6034852.