Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has called for train operator Avanti West Coast’s contract to be cancelled if its Manchester to London service does not improve.
Just one train per hour runs between the cities, and despite Avanti insisting it provides ‘stability and certainty for passengers’, there has been significant disruption.
An average of 10% of services over the last three weeks have been cancelled or significantly late, with over a quarter failing to arrive on time.
In a letter to the transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the mayor said: “Avanti must also commit to providing a consistent two trains per hour service between Manchester and London by end of this month, as a staging post to complete restoration of the timetable.
“Unless this happens and is clearly communicated, train travel between our most important economic regions will continue to be chaotic.
“Without this commitment, I will be unable to support a new contract for Avanti.”
The operator has announced plans for the West Coast Mainline to be fully restored by December, with three trains per hour on the route.
In an interview with local reporters, Burnham continued to stress the importance of reliable links between the two cities.
He said: “We’re losing visitors to our city. Every day they allow this company to run this reduced timetable is another day when they’re allowing the Greater Manchester economy to be damaged.”
The mayor also criticised the poor ticketing service provided by the company, with tickets only being released a few days in advance and seats regularly being double-booked.
Transport minister Trudy Harrison insisted that restoring the service to full strength was an ‘absolute priority’.
Speaking in the House of Commons, she said: “We are considering all options, and all options remain on the table. Withdrawing Avanti’s contract is one of those options, but we must bear in mind all the implications of that.”
In response to the criticism, Avanti West Coast said: “We know that at the moment we’re not delivering the services our customers rightly expect and we apologise for the enormous frustration and inconvenience this has caused.
“In the last week, we have run 300 trains between London and Manchester with approximately 1 in 30 cancelled, mainly because of short notice sickness. This compares to 1 out of 13 back in July.
“We remain focussed on providing a reliable train service and restoring a full timetable of three trains an hour in December. We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding.”
Main image: Avanti West Coast Pendolino 390155
