But Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell has said he wanted action, rather than apologies from the managing director of TransPennine, Matthew Golton.
The two met at Westminster on Tuesday, in which Mr Mundell gave a ‘hard-hitting’ message that the level of service remains unacceptable and must be improved.
He expressed anger and disappointment that despite previous promises by TransPennine to improve services, cancellations and late-running trains had continued.
Mr Mundell said: “Lockerbie Station users are angry and frustrated, as I am, at the current level of service being provided by TransPennine and I did not hold my punches in conveying that to Mr Golton.
“I wanted him to understand how unhappy rail travellers are with what has been happening. I accept that many of the issues at the weekend are due to industrial action, but cancellation of weekday services, particularly at short notice, caused the greatest disruption for many people and are not acceptable.
“I made that point along with the concern that tickets are still being sold for services which TransPennine know will be cancelled, which they claim is because tickets are bought through third parties like Trainline.
“Mr Golton again apologised for the poor level of service and pointed out Avanti services now stopped at Lockerbie to make up for some cancellations, as I had previously called for.
“However, I made clear that it was action rather than apologies that Lockerbie Station users wanted. That meant delivering the advertised timetable and, if there were to be cancellations, giving adequate notice.”
Mr Mundell added: “The current situation cannot be allowed to continue, so I am now escalating the issue to the UK Transport Minister, Wendy Morton, to call TransPennine to account for these service failures and to enforce contractual arrangements with the Government to deliver the services promised at Lockerbie.”
