BRITISH inter-city operator Avanti West Coast (AWC) should lose its contract to operate services on Britain’s West Coast Main Line, according to Transport for the North (TfN).
The board of the transport planning and delivery group voted on March 20 to write to the secretary of state for transport, Mr Mark Harper, asking for AWC to removed “at the earliest possible opportunity.”
The vote follows a report to the board that said that the continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the north of England. AWC has faced criticism from passengers and local politicians in recent years over frequent cancellations and reduced timetables, but has so far retained the backing of the Department for Transport (DfT).
In the letter to Harper, TfN suggests that DfT’s Operator of Last Resort should take on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line.
“Today’s board was very clear,” says TfN chair Lord Patrick McLoughlin. “The performance on the West Coast Main Line by Avanti has been so poor, for so long, that action now must be taken. The travelling public deserve a service they can rely on.”
Avanti West Coast is a partnership between British-based FirstGroup and Italian State Railways’ (FS) passenger division Trenitalia.
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