Rail improvements earn Avanti multi-year deal

After impressing the Department for Transport with significant improvements over the last 11 months, Avanti West Coast has now been handed a long-term rail contract.

Avanti West Coast operates routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh and London. In Lancashire, it serves Blackpool North, Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham & Wesham, Lancaster and Preston stations.

The government initially placed the company on two consecutive short-term, six-month contracts and ordered them to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance on vital routes which were brought on by a shortage of available drivers.

Alongside the recovery plan which prioritised training new drivers, reducing reliance on rest day working and getting tickets on sale earlier, a recovery timetable was introduced which has seen services increase from 180 trains per day to 264 on weekdays – the highest level in over two years.

By the end of the first six-month contract in March, Avanti had already made significant progress towards its recovery, with 40 per cent more services being run and cancellations within Avanti’s control falling to 4.2 per cent. Those arrangements were further extended to ensure these improvements would continue and passengers would feel confident in using the services again.

Since then, Avanti West Coast’s services have seen further improvements, including cancellations consistently been below 3 per cent since March 2023, and as low as 1.1% in July 2023, down from 13% in January 2023; over 90 per cent of trains now arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, improved from 75 per cent in December 2022; and more than 100 additional drivers have been trained and brought on since April 2022.

Starting on 15 October 2023, Avanti West Coast’s new National Rail Contract will have a core term of three years and a maximum possible term of nine years. After three years, the transport secretary can terminate the contract at any point with three months' notice.

The department will stay in close contact with the operator and local stakeholders to monitor Avanti’s performance as it continues its progress to a sustained recovery.

Mark Harper, transport secretary, said: "The routes Avanti West Coast operate provide vital connections, and passengers must feel confident that they can rely on the services to get them where they need to be at the right time.

"Over the past year, short-term contracts were necessary to rebuild the timetable and reduce cancellations. Now Avanti are back on track, providing long-term certainty for both the operator and passengers will best ensure that improvements continue."