{"id":21757,"date":"2024-03-22T05:36:53","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T19:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=21757"},"modified":"2024-03-22T05:36:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T19:36:53","slug":"northern-leaders-vote-to-have-avanti-west-coasts-contract-terminated-and-taken-back-into-public-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=21757","title":{"rendered":"Northern leaders vote to have Avanti West Coast\u2019s contract terminated and taken back into public control"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transport for the North (TfN)<\/a> Board, held in Leeds, officially passed a motion to write to the Secretary of State asking for Avanti West Coast<\/a>\u00a0 to be taken off the key West Coast Main Line route \u201cat the earliest possible opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes after a report to the Board that stated, \u201ca continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the North.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two options were considered by the Board \u2013 to set a target for improvement by June or face \u2018further measures\u2019 or to terminate the contract straight away. After hearing from Avanti\u2019s<\/a> MD Steve Montgomery about the poor performance over many months the board opted to take immediate action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Transport for the North<\/a> will now write to the Secretary of State for Transport that Avanti West Coast\u2019s<\/a> contract should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity, with the Operator of Last Resort taking on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December, TfN<\/a> wrote to the Transport Secretary asking him to instruct officials to conduct a critical review into Avanti West Coast\u2019s<\/a> operation given the deteriorating service, after the operator announced a number of cuts to services over the busy Christmas period, and the Board highlighted the economic impact this was having on the region.<\/p>\n

Responding to today\u2019s decision, Lord McLoughlin Transport for the North<\/a> Chair said:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s board was very clear. The performance on the West Coast Main Line by Avanti<\/a> has been so poor, for so long that action now must be taken.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be writing statutory advice today to the Secretary of State calling for Avanti<\/a> to be relieved of its contract. The travelling public deserve a service they can rely on. But Avanti<\/a> has fallen far too short of expectations for far too long now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

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Transport for the North (TfN) Board, held in Leeds, officially passed a motion to write to the Secretary of State asking for Avanti West Coast\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,47,488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-opinion","category-rail-news","category-railway-stations"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t