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Avanti West Coast: Mayor urges pressure to be put on train firm Avanti West Coast should be stripped of contract - Starmer
(about 7 hours later)
Avanti West Coast's contract renewal comes up later this monthAvanti West Coast's contract renewal comes up later this month
Greater Manchester's mayor has urged the transport secretary to force Avanti West Coast into increasing services. Avanti should be stripped of its West Coast Main Line contract, said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Andy Burnham said he wanted at least two trains per hour to run between Manchester and London by the end of October. Since cutting the number of trains between London and Manchester by a third in August it has come under fire.
In a letter to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Mr Burnham said the operator should lose its contract if it could not comply. Sir Keir said the service provided by Avanti West Coast was "simply not good enough", adding that it must improve.
Avanti West Coast and the Department for Transport have both been approached for a response to Mr Burnham's demands. Avanti West Coast apologised for problems due to reduced services while the government said it would mull all options before contract renewal talks.
Pre-pandemic there used to be three services per hour linking Manchester and London. Sir Keir was asked on BBC Radio Manchester whether Avanti West Coast should lose its contract if it did not urgently increase services.
Avanti cut services between London and Manchester by a third on 14 August and suspended ticket sales due to "severe staff shortages". The Labour leader agreed, adding: "I use those trains and know how frustrating it is."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was questioned on the renewal of the rail contract
Before the Covid-19 crisis, there were three services per hour linking Manchester and London.
Avanti cut services between London and Manchester on 14 August and suspended ticket sales due to "severe staff shortages".
It subsequently promised to run extra trains on its key London-Manchester and London-Birmingham routes from 27 September.It subsequently promised to run extra trains on its key London-Manchester and London-Birmingham routes from 27 September.
The operator also said services would be boosted again from 11 December once nearly 100 new drivers had completed their training.The operator also said services would be boosted again from 11 December once nearly 100 new drivers had completed their training.
Greater Manchester's mayor Andy Burnham has written to the transport secretary, urging her to force Avanti West Coast into increasing services.
He said he wanted at least two trains per hour to run between Manchester and London by the end of October.
In his letter to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Mr Burnham said Avanti West Coast should lose its contract if it could not comply.
Andy Burnham said the current situation was having a "profoundly negative impact"Andy Burnham said the current situation was having a "profoundly negative impact"
In his letter to Ms Trevelyan, Mr Burnham said the company's plans would cause too much disruption to passengers. Mr Burnham said the company's plans would cause too much disruption to passengers.
"This would mean two more months of chaos on the West Coast Mainline in the interim, with resulting damage to our city-region's economy," he said."This would mean two more months of chaos on the West Coast Mainline in the interim, with resulting damage to our city-region's economy," he said.
"If 11 December is to be acceptable, 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 full restoration of the timetable."If 11 December is to be acceptable, 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 full restoration of the timetable.
"Unless this happens and is clearly communicated, train travel between our most important economic regions will continue to be chaotic, forcing people into their cars or into abandoning plans to travel entirely."Unless this happens and is clearly communicated, train travel between our most important economic regions will continue to be chaotic, forcing people into their cars or into abandoning plans to travel entirely.
"Without this commitment, I will be unable to support a new contract for Avanti.""Without this commitment, I will be unable to support a new contract for Avanti."
Andy Burnham has written to Secretary of State for Transport Anne-Marie TrevelyanAndy Burnham has written to Secretary of State for Transport Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Avanti West Coast's contract renewal comes up later this month. Avanti West Coast said the revised timetable had "reduced the percentage of short-notice cancellations and so improved reliability for our customers".
A transport minister previously told MPs all options remained on the table, including withdrawing the contract. "We've also worked hard to produce a plan to incrementally increase services, particularly on the Manchester route which is our busiest, over the next two months, and then in December we are planning to return to a full timetable on most of our network.
"Nevertheless, we know that at the moment we're not delivering the service our customers rightly expect and we apologise for the enormous frustration and inconvenience this is causing."
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "The problems facing Avanti are a prime example of why we need to modernise our railways, so passengers benefit from reliable timetables that don't rely on the goodwill of drivers volunteering to work overtime in the first place.
"Government will consider all options when Avanti West Coast's contract expires on 16 October."
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