Avanti pledges return to normal services in December

Troubled train operator Avanti has pledged a return to near normal services in December after delays and short-notice cancellations plagued the network for the last two months.

“We’re continuing to work with our sole focus on improving the timetable, marking more robust and sustainable for all our passengers,” Richard Scott, director of corporate affairs at parent company West Coast Partnership, told a parliamentary committee hearing today.

Avanti was forced to slash services, including trains between London and Manchester, in early August following a drop in the number of drivers volunteering to work overtime during rest days. 

Despite being considered an industry practice used by most train operators, overtime work is not mandatory and workers can decide to withdraw from it – especially amid the current industrial climate.

“The way we tackled that was to reduce the timetable so that we could plan on a more robust and sustainable basis for us passengers,” Scott said. 

“We’re not running the frequency that we want to run or that our communities want us to run but we are working towards it.”

Since August, the company has introduced an additional 10 services a day to Manchester and four to Birmingham, incrementing them on a weekly basis.

The target is to reach three trains an hour to Manchester in December. 

To guarantee a normal service, the company will also move away from relying on overtime.

“There is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes to make sure that we have the right people in the right places to deliver a reliable service that is not predicated on rest day working,” Scott added. 

The operator recently made the headlines last week when it was awarded a short-term government extension to continue running services until April.

Transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan justified the decision saying: “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.”

Grilled by committee members over the new deadline for turning things around, Avanti said returning to normal was the business’ “top priority” and that no stone was “left unturned.”