The
Labour
Party


is
planning
to
begin
its
rolling
programme
of
nationalising
private
sector
passenger
operators
with
Avanti
West
Coast.

Owned
by
FirstGroup
and
Trenitalia,
the
former
franchise
was
only
given
a
National
Rail
Contract
in
September
last
year.
This
contract
began
on
15
October
and
was
to
run
for
at
least
three
years,
with
extensions
possible
until
October
2032.

Until
last
September,
Avanti
had
worked
under
two
six-month
emergency
contracts,
to
allow
time
for
its
services
to
recover
from
major
performance
problems
which
were
mainly
caused
by
a
shortage
of
drivers.

Shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
said
standards
had
continued
to
be
‘woeful’.
In
its
document
Getting
Britain
Moving
Labour
has
already
undertaken
to
end
National
Rail
Contracts
over
time,
as
they
expire
or
reach
a
break
point,
but
Ms
Haigh
made
it
clear
that
Avanti’s
time
may
be
shorter
than
that
if
her
party
wins
the
election,
three
weeks
from
today.

She
said:
‘I
anticipate
I
will
be
seeking
advice
early
on
whether
Avanti
has
been
in
breach
of
its
contract
given
the
woeful
service
that
it’s
been
providing
to
passengers
down
the
West
Coast
Main
Line.

‘No
ifs,
no
buts,
October
2026
will
be
the
last
date
Avanti
will
have
notice,
but
I
will
ask
for
early
advice
about
whether
they
have
already
breached
their
contract
and
whether
it
can
be
brought
in
any
earlier.’

Transport
for
the
North
has
already
urged
the
government
to
end
the
Avanti
operation.

Avanti
did
not
comment
directly
on
the
prospect
of
early
termination,
saying
only:
‘Recently
we
have
introduced
our
new
Evero
fleet
on
the
West
Coast
Main
Line
which
has
boosted
capacity
on
the
network.
This
combined
with
our
refurbishment
of
our
Pendolino
trains,
the
introduction
of
standard
premium
and
our
Superfare
ticket
has
significantly
improved
our
services.’

The
operator
has
recently
started
to
introduce
new
Hitachi-built
replacements
for
the
Bombardier
Voyager
fleet,
which
is
now
more
than
20
years
old.