AVANTI West Coast has had its contract for the West Coast Mainline extended for six months - but has been ordered to 'drastically improve services'.

The company currently run services through Carlisle to both London and Glasgow, but has recently come under fire after cutting its timetable across the network.

A reduced timetable and industrial action by rail staff and train drivers has caused widespread disruption on Cumbria’s railways over the summer and into the autumn.

The new deal means Avanti West Coast, which is jointly owned by FirstGroup and Italian state-owned company Trenitalia, will continue to operate its services until April, but further deals depend on its performance over the winter and spring.

The operator was second bottom in the performance table for late trains in 2020-21, was bottom in 2021-22 and was the most complained about train company with over 50,000 complaints lodged.

When asked about the service, one rail user, Linda McDonald, said: "It's dreadful. So many cancelled trains, can't get tickets booked. Times changed willy nilly. The seat booking process (when you can actually book a ticket) is a joke, they double book seats the whole time."

Avanti also came under fire after it paid out £11million in shareholder dividends last year - despite its performance.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has joined Transport for the North chair, Lord Patrick McLoughlin, in criticising the move to extend the contract. 

"Returning to having a good, reliable service on the West Coast Mainline is a pro-growth policy that will benefit the North of England’s economy, and as such it should be a priority as the current level of service is just not acceptable," Lord McLoughlin said.

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Secretary of State for Transport, Anne-Marie Trevelyan has defended the move but warned Avanti that the situation must improve if the contract will be extended beyond April.

“Services on Avanti have been unacceptable and while the company has taken positive steps to get more trains moving, it must do more to deliver certainty of service to its passengers,” Ms Trevelyan said.

“We have agreed a 6-month extension to Avanti to assess whether it is capable of running this crucial route to a standard passengers deserve and expect.”

The problems faced by Avanti over the last few months have been mainly caused by a lack of drivers and a reliance on current drivers' working overtime.

Around 100 extra drivers will have begun work for Avanti by the end of the year and services are hoped to return to a level of normality, the group said.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it has gained assurances from Avanti that it will return to providing timetables at least six weeks in advance of travel.

ORR challenged Avanti in August to provide a recovery plan for returning to providing timetable information to passengers in line with industry norms (currently 6-8 weeks ahead of travel). This initial plan was rejected by the regulator.

A revised plan has since been submitted and shows a substantially improving picture for weekday timetable information, a more gradual improvement for weekends, and positive plans for the Christmas period. 

“We are committed to working closely with government and our partners across the industry to deliver a successful railway that serves the needs of our customers and communities,” Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup chief executive officer said.

“Today’s agreement allows our team at Avanti West Coast to sustain their focus on delivering their robust plan to restore services to the levels that passengers rightly expect."

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