Avanti rewarded with 9-year deal for improved performance
The west coast operator has been under pressure to reduce cancellations
Avanti West Coast is being given an opportunity to rebuild its reputation with passengers on the Glasgow to London route with a new contract from the Department for Transport
For the last year the operator has been on six-month contracts while under intense pressure to improve its record on cancellations and punctuality, which was largely attributed to drivers refusing to work paid overtime shifts.
The proportion of its trains being cancelled has been cut to "as low as 1.1% over the past year", the DfT said.
Early exit clause
Avanti West Coast's new deal has a maximum length of nine years but can be axed after three years.
Avanti West Coast is a joint venture between Scottish-based FirstGroup (70%) and Italian state operator Trenitalia (30%).
It is the successor to Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow Central and London Euston, with branches to Birmingham, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.
'Back on track'
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: "The routes Avanti West Coast operate provide vital connections, and passengers must feel confident that they can rely on the services to get them where they need to be at the right time.
"Over the past year, short-term contracts were necessary to rebuild the timetable and reduce cancellations.
"Now Avanti are back on track, providing long-term certainty for both the operator and passengers will best ensure that improvements continue."
Avanti West Coast's contract is under the West Coast Partnership (WCP), which also involves the company being the shadow operator for HS2.
FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland said: "Our West Coast Partnership team has worked hard over recent months to deliver improvements for Avanti passengers, including an increase in the number of services in the timetable and high levels of reliability for customers.
New look trains
"The new National Rail Contract agreed today will allow our team to use its expertise on further improvements.
"These include programmes to refurbish the existing fleet and to introduce new, more environmentally friendly trains, which will encourage more passengers to return to the network and help deliver the UK's decarbonisation agenda."
FirstGroup said the deal is a management contract under which the DfT "retains all revenue risk and substantially all cost risk".
The WCP will earn a fixed annual management fee of ÂŁ5.1 million, with the opportunity to earn a variable fee of up to ÂŁ15.8 million per year based on criteria such as punctuality.