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Transport for the North’s (TfN) Rail North Committee has made fresh calls for rail operator Avanti West Coast to be stripped of its franchise to run services.
The committee met with Avanti West Coast leadership on 15th July to discuss poor performance by the operator and since that discussion, voted to issue statutory advice to the Secretary of State for Transport to call on the operator to lose the franchise to run services on the West Coast Mainline between London Euston and the North West, North Wales and Scotland.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Chair of the Rail North Committee, Andy Burnham, has written to newly appointed Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, reiterating previous advice from TfN that the West Coast Main Line rail franchise should be returned to the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort.
In his letter, Andy Burnham states that overall performance levels have not improved since TfN’s last review in March. Alongside the poor performance of the operator, he also notes the delays and disruption caused by Network Rail’s infrastructure along the West Coast Main Line route. Failures attributed to Network Rail accounted for 64% of delays, and so alongside action against the operator, calls for investment in rail infrastructure to also be considered, with capacity and power supply restraints both part of the problems facing services.
The calls for Avanti lose the franchise and for there to be more investment into improving rail infrastructure in the region follow a report into the cancellation of HS2’s Northern leg which reiterated that the running of HS2 trains on the West Coast Main Line would result in slower journey times and a reduction in the number of passengers each train can carry, with passengers to potentially face higher fares in order to reduce demand.