Avanti West Coast puts on additional Manchester to London services ahead of Queen’s Funeral

Rail operator, Avanti West Coast has announced it will put on additional services between Manchester and Stockport and London to allow mourners from the North-west to travel as Queen Elizabeth II lies in state ahead of her funeral on Monday 19th September.

The rail operator had previously cut services from August to a single hourly train due to staffing shortages amid pay negotiations with drivers and train staff. Four additional trains have run since Tuesday 13th September, from 9.35am and 5.55pm southbound, with additional return journeys between 12.40pm and 8.40pm. Three further trains will run each way on Friday 16th September, although whether additional services will continue on the weekend, and beyond the the State Funeral, has not been announced.

The move by the operator follows a further letter to Avanti West Coast’s management by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and Manchester City Council leader, Cllr Bev Craig calling for services to be increased, both for mourners and other rail users. They wrote:

“We are writing to register our serious concerns about the ability of Avanti West Coast services to support people wishing to travel between the North West and London both over the coming days to pay their respects to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and into next month.

“So far this week, we have seen numerous complaints about the quality and availability of services. We welcome the decision to add extra trains to the timetable this weekend but believe this must be accompanied by a significant improvement in customer service if we are to avoid some of the unacceptable scenes we have seen on trains and at stations.

“One of the most common concerns being raised is the timely release of seats for people to book. It is extremely disappointing that, this morning, people wishing to travel to London are still unable to book tickets for Saturday 17 September and that tickets for other days around Her Majesty’s funeral have only been released at very short notice. We ask that you urgently make these tickets available for purchase.

“We understand that you are considering chartering services to carry passengers along the West Coast Main Line. Whilst it is clearly regrettable that these services are required, we would ask that information about these additional trains is provided to customers at the earliest opportunity.

“Given additional capacity is clearly needed, we also reiterate our request that you implement an immediate blanket declassification of the first-class carriages on your trains for this period and make those seats available at standard prices on the booking system.

“Those people who have been able to travel in recent days have reported many examples of poor service, such as: short-notice cancellations; broken on-board equipment; and short-formed trains, preventing them from taking the seats they had booked. These defects are disappointing at any time but are unacceptable when so many people require urgent travel.

We ask that you take urgent steps to address the above issues and ensure that there are sufficient staff on hand to help passengers during the coming period. We also reiterate our request for an urgent plan for the full restoration of the Manchester-London timetable.”