Avanti West Coast contract extended

Despite months of frustration for passengers fed up with cancellations and delays Avanti West Coast is having its contact to run train services between Glasgow and London extended.

The Department for Transport has renewed the short-term contract for another six months saying there have been significant improvements since October 2023.

The operator, which is part owned by Scottish-based FirstGroup, was put on a short-term contract and ordered to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance.

Cancellations cut back

A dispute with drivers union ASLEF which began last summer saw staff refused to work overtime and in August 2022 nearly 1 in every 4 trains was cancelled.

READ MORE: Avanti in the 'last chance saloon'

Measures included a recovery timetable which has significantly reduced reliance on overtime working and has seen services increase from 180 trains per day to 264 on weekdays.

The Department for Transport says cancellations are now running at just over 4% and 90% of trains are arriving within 15 mins of their booked time.

Services return

FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland said: "We are working closely with Government and our partners across the industry to deliver a successful railway for our customers and communities.

"Performance at Avanti is steadily improving and, since the introduction of the new timetable in mid-December, the number of services has increased by more than 40% compared to last summer, with more seats and better frequencies.

"Today's agreement allows our team to continue their focus on delivering their robust plans to continue enhancing services for our customers, including further progress on our train upgrade and refurbishment programme."

Passenger frustration

Transport Secretary, Mark Harper said: “The routes Avanti West Coast run are absolutely vital, and I fully understand the frustrations passengers felt at the completely unacceptable services seen last Autumn.

“Following our intervention, Rail Minister Huw Merriman and I have worked closely with local leaders to put a robust plan in place, which I’m glad to see is working.

“However, there is still more work to be done to bring services up to the standards we expect, which is why over this next six months further improvements will need to be made by Avanti West Coast.”

Over the next 6 months the company will be expected to continue show improvements including more reliable weekend services, continued reductions in cancellations and improvements in passenger information during planned and unplanned disruption.

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