Transport for the North the group that represents leaders from transport, business and politics across the north of England held a board meeting in Leeds on Wednesday and officially passed a motion to write to the Secretary of State asking for the Rail operator Avanti West Coast (AWC) to be stripped of its contract to operate the West Coast mainline "at the earliest possible opportunity".
It comes after a report to the board that stated, “a continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the North.”
Two options were considered by the board – to set a target for improvement by June or face ‘further measures’ or to terminate the contract straight away. After hearing from Avanti’s MD Steve Montgomery about the poor performance over many months the board opted to take immediate action.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told Avant bosses “your company has inflicted huge Damadge on our economy”, “Avanti the worst rail operator in Britain.”
Transport for the North will now write to the Secretary of State for Transport that Avanti West Coast’s contract should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity, with the Operator of Last Resort taking on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line.
In December, TfN wrote to the Transport Secretary asking him to instruct officials to conduct a critical review into Avanti West Coast’s operation given the deteriorating service, after the operator announced a number of cuts to services over the busy Christmas period, and the board highlighted the economic impact this was having on the region.
Responding to today’s decision TfN Chairman Lord McLoughlin said:
“Today’s board was very clear. The performance on the West Coast Main Line by Avanti has been so poor, for so long that action now must be taken.
“We will be writing statutory advice today to the Secretary of State calling for Avanti to be relieved of its contract. The travelling public deserve a service they can rely on. But Avanti has fallen far too short of expectations for far too long now.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "Stripping Avanti's contract would just cause more upheaval for passengers rather than solving the challenges the operator is facing.”
Todays call has fuelled Speculation over whether rail operator will be brought under imminent public control with control of the Avanti West Coast rail franchise handed over to the operator of last resort
to run the service. Norther Rail and eight other rail services across the UK have been placed into the same position in recent years.
In September, the joint venture between UK-based FirstGroup and Italian train operator Trenitalia had been awarded a lucrative long-term contract to keep running the intercity services on the west coast main line and operation of stations along the line including Penrith station.
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