How drivers’ sky-high rates of sickness are derailing train services

Absences at one operator are seven times higher than national average

TRAIN driver sickness rates are disrupting rail services, with staff at one operator nearly seven times more likely to be off sick than the rest of the national workforce, figures have shown.

At Transpennine Express, which covers Scotland and the north of England, absence through sickness is running at 14 per cent – almost seven times higher than the national average, which hit an 11-year-high last year.

This means its drivers take 30 sick days a year, compared with the 4.6 days the rest of the country took in 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey.

In September, the firm introduced long-term service cuts, reducing the number of trains between north-west England and Scotland by almost a quarter. It said the disruption was caused by “higher than normal sickness levels” and “ongoing industrial relations issues”.

Huw Merriman, the rail minister, said earlier this month that the firm’s contract was under consideration.

At the operator LNER, meanwhile, 10.4 per cent of all the company’s drivers are currently off sick, according to The Sunday Times, leading to the cancellation of services to Inverness and Aberdeen.

In addition, Northern Trains’ Manchester depot has 7-8 per cent absence because of sickness, with its Leeds and Yorkshire depot at 4-5 per cent. Southeastern has a 6.8 per cent sickness rate, according to the newspaper.

Navendu Mishra, the Labour MP for Stockport, condemned both Transpennine and Avanti, calling the latter’s service “disgraceful”. He said: “My constituents have to deal with Transpennine Express on the one hand and also Avanti, so it is a double whammy for the people of Stockport.”

Representatives for the train operators said that the three top causes of absence are mental health issues, viral illness and musculoskeletal problems. However, an insider told The Sunday Times that some drivers used illness as a “convenient excuse” when other factors were at play, such as wanting to avoid abuse from passengers angered by cancellations.

The revelations come as new research suggests more than half a million more people are out of work because of long-term sickness than before the pandemic.

Three out of five of those who are classed as economically inactive due to longterm sickness are aged 50 or over, according to a report.

Rest Less, a group which offers advice and support to older people, said there are 1.6million over-50s out of work because of long-term illness – a 20 per cent increase in the three years from July to September 2019 to July to September 2022.

More than one in three economically inactive 50 to 64year-olds are out of work as a result of long-term illness, according to the group’s analysis of official data. The main reason given for inactivity was long-term sickness or disability, followed by retirement and looking after family.

Stuart Lewis, chief executive of Rest Less, said: “A rise in long-term ill health has significantly reduced the size of the UK’S potential workforce ... but it is a particularly large driver ... in available workers in their 50s and 60s.”