Avanti West Coast handed contract extension as Mark Harper hails success of improvement plan despite delays

Troubled train operator Avanti West Coast has been given a contract extension by the government, its owners have announced.

The firm's current deal with the Department for Transport (DfT) was due to expire at the end of this month but a new short-term contract runs up to 15 October - when another deal will have to be found.

The operator has been plagued by reliability and punctuality issues in the past year - struggles that have not been helped by the ongoing disputes with trade unions.

Avanti's owners, FirstGroup, say the company is "working closely" with the government to make its lines successful.

FirstGroup's chief executive Graham Sutherland said: "Performance at Avanti is steadily improving and, since the introduction of the new timetable in mid-December, the number of services has increased by more than 40% compared to last summer, with more seats and better frequencies.

"Today's agreement allows our team to continue their focus on delivering their robust plans to continue enhancing services for our customers, including further progress on our train upgrade and refurbishment programme."

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said an improvement plan produced by Avanti West Coast "is working" after the operator was handed its previous six-month contract renewal in October 2022.

He described the routes that Avanti West Coast runs as "absolutely vital" but also said he understands "the frustrations passengers felt at the completely unacceptable services seen last autumn".

"Following our intervention, rail minister Huw Merriman and I have worked closely with local leaders to put a robust plan in place, which I'm glad to see is working," Mr Harper said.

"However, there is still more work to be done to bring services up to the standards we expect, which is why over this next six months further improvements will need to be made by Avanti West Coast."

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Labour's shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the railways were "broken" under the Conservatives.

Criticising the extension, she said: "Avanti has literally broken records over the last six months for delays and cancellations, and the Conservatives' answer is to reward failure with millions more in taxpayer cash.

"If this is what success looks like to ministers, it shows that under the Conservatives our broken railways are here to stay.

"The next Labour government will put passengers back at the heart of our railways, and build the infrastructure fit for the century ahead unlocking jobs and growth."

Avanti West Coast runs trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central, with branches to Birmingham, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.

Avanti West Coast slashed its timetable in August 2022 in a bid to improve reliability.

This came after passengers suffered weeks of short-notice cancellations, partly due to a sharp decline in the number of drivers voluntarily working on rest days for extra pay.

A new timetable introduced in December 2022 with a "significantly reduced reliance on overtime working" has seen the number of weekday services increase from 180 to 264, the DfT said.

The contract for TransPennine Express - another FirstGroup-owned operator with performance problems - expires on 28 May.

This will be "considered separately with a further announcement in due course", according to the DfT.