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Tory Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced that some of the meetings he had scheduled with MPs furious over train cancellations...have been cancelled.

More than 12,000 train journeys have been disrupted since the botched introduction of new rail timetables.

The huge shake-up, now in its second week, has led to severe delays and last-minute cancellations across the country.

Passengers hit by fare rises averaging 3.4% this year – the biggest in five years – are furious at the disruption, which follows months of strikes by rail staff.

And it turns out it's not just Northern Rail and Govia Thameslink whose schedule is in chaos.

No, Mr Grayling has had to send out his Parliamentary Private Secretary, Tory MP James Heappey, to explain to irate colleagues that there are far too many people miffed at the situation to see them individually.

In a letter sent to MPs he wrote: "We’ve had a very large number of colleagues asking for a meeting with Chris Grayling or [minister] Jo Johnson to discuss the timetable changes and subsequent disruption on the Northern and Govia Thameslink networks.

“We’ve tried to accommodate people on a first come first served basis but, even with appointments running solidly between 6-10pm for both ministers, we’ve been unable to accommodate a significant number of colleagues at this stage.”

(Image: PA)

He went on to explain that because of a scheduling shake-up, some people who had booked a time to give Mr Grayling a roasting will have their meetings cancelled.

He wrote: “Furthermore, Chris will be making a statement on the matter in the House this afternoon which we expect to start around 5.30 and to run until at least 6.30. This means that some colleagues with earlier meetings would now miss out.

The Transport team will, he said, be phoning around shortly to try and rearrange the meetings.

But he risked the ire of already furious colleagues by asking them to be “flexible” and agree to come in a “small group so that we can maximise the numbers”.

The Prime Minister has full confidence in the Transport Secretary, her spokesman insisted today.