An
internal
presentation


to
Avanti
West
Coast
managers
which
boasted
‘Roll
up,
roll
up,
get
your
free
money
here!’,
when
referring
to
payments
from
the
government,
has
been
followed
by
an
apology
from
the
operator.

Avanti,
which
is
owned
by
British
FirstGroup
and
Italian
Trenitalia,
has
been
under
fire
because
of
poor
performance,
including
cancellations
which
it
has
blamed
on
a
shortage
of
drivers.

One
slide
used
in
the
presentation,
which
was
leaked
to
Novara
Media, explains
how
Avanti
qualifies
for
performance-related
bonuses,
even
if
it
scores
seven,
eight
or
nine
out
of
ten
for
‘compliance’.
It
continues:
‘And
here’s
the
fantastic
thing!
–
if
we
achieve
those
figures,
they
pay
us
some
more
money
–
which
is
ours
to
keep
–
in
the
form
of
a
performance-based
fee!!
Sounds
too
good
to
be
true?!
Well
on
this
occasion
–
it
isn’t
–
it’s
the
absolute
truth!’.

It
was
reported
that
the
presentation
had
been
seen
by
managing
director
Andy
Mellors
and
other
executives,
but
Avanti
said
they
had
not
presented
the
‘free
money’
slides.

Avanti
also
said
it
was
an
isolated
incident
and
did
not
represent
the
company’s
views.
It
continued:
‘These
slides
were
an
attempt
to
explain
to
some
of
our
colleagues
how
the
Service
Quality
Regime
works,
but
the
language
used
was
regrettable.

‘The
Service
Quality
Regime
is
a
robust
and
independent
audit
which
we
take
very
seriously.
It
has
been
demonstrated
to
hold
us
to
account
to
drive
up
standards
as
we
strive
to
continually
improve
our
customer
service.’

AWC
was
given
a
new
National
Rail
Contract
on
19
September
last
year,
which
started
on
15
October.
This
replaced
the
previous
short
term
contract
which
had
been
awarded
in
March
2023
after
Avanti
West
Coast
had
been
affected
by
performance
problems
and
high
cancellation
figures.
It
was
the
second
short-term
contract
to
be
allowed
while
Avanti
recovered.
The
contract
will
run
for
at
least
three
years
until
18
October
2026
and
possibly
up
to
nine.

RMT
general
secretary
Mick
Lynch
said:
‘Avanti
is
one
of
the
worst
rail
companies
in
terms
of
performance
and
how
it
treats
staff.
For
senior
management
to
produce
a
PowerPoint
slide
bragging
about
the
government
paying
them
public
money
is
a
disgrace.

‘The
government
has
the
mandate
over
Avanti
and
should
never
have
given
them
a
long-term
nine-year
contract
award.
The
fact
the
company
feels
emboldened
to
boast
that
they
get
“free
money”
is
down
to
the
ridiculous
system
of
rail
ownership
in
this
country.
Ultimately,
profit-driven
companies
who
receive
huge
public
subsidies
have
failed
to
deliver
for
railway
workers
and
passengers
alike.’

Labour
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
was
also
critical,
saying:
‘This
failing
operator
is
taking
passengers
and
taxpayers
for
fools,
while
complacent
ministers
reward
them
for
their
failure.

‘Given
Avanti
West
Coast
has
been
propped
up
with
a
taxpayer
funded
bailout
of
hundreds
of
millions,
these
sickening
comments
are
a
slap
in
the
face.

‘Ministers
need
to
explain
how
their
performance
monitoring
regime
is
so
lax
that
one
of
the
worst
performing
operators
on
the
network
can
joke
about
taking
free
money
from
hard-pressed
taxpayers.

’And
after
years
of
soaring
delays
and
cancellations
they
need
to
explain
when
precisely
they
will
stand
up
for
passengers
and
strip
Avanti
of
their
contract.’