Avanti West Coast and ministers risking Christmas rail chaos, says Labour
Labour has accused Avanti West Coast and ministers of risking chaos over Christmas after it emerged the rail operator’s new contract gives no guarantees on improved weekend services, and with tickets unavailable for booking over the festive period.
The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, has written to the government seeking assurances about weekend travel along the hugely busy west coast mainline, saying the current situation was “staggering”.
The rail operator had its contract to run trains between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh extended earlier this month on a short-term basis until April, but was told it must “drastically improve services” after a major contraction of its timetable.
Avanti cut back the number of trains in runs significantly in August – between London Euston and Manchester they have gone from one every 20 minutes to one an hour – and limited ticket sales. The operator blamed unofficial strike action, an accusation unions reject.
In her letter to the transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Haigh noted that the improvement plan announced with the new contract made no mention of improvements to what she called “shambolic weekend services”.
It was currently impossible for passengers to book any weekend tickets at all on Avanti West Coast throughout November or over Christmas, she said.
Haigh wrote: “It is frankly staggering that at this critical time of year for businesses, passengers are unable to book weekend travel across the length of the UK. This will be deeply damaging for regional growth.
“That’s why you must urgently address the gaping holes in your botched improvement plan. So will you demand that these critical weekend services for the period up to Christmas are urgently
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