WHAT EXACTLY do Avanti West Coast have to do to lose their contract?
This is a question that has been swirling around my mind, and constituents, since last week’s disappointing government announcement to renew Avanti’s contract for a further six months. Avanti was awarded a six-month contract in October 2022 and placed on a government ‘improvement plan’ to raise the standard of services.
This came after months of awful Avanti performance: major services like the London to Manchester line were cut to just one an hour, thousands of trains were cancelled last minute, and tickets were not made available to purchase until a few days in advance.
The then Secretary of State for Transport said Avanti would lose the route if it did not “drastically improve services”.
Fast-forward to last week’s announcement, and I think Avanti’s performance could be better described as a ‘little less rubbish’ than a ‘drastic improvement’. Under the Secretary of State’s intensive six-month improvement regime, Avanti have broken records – they can now lay claim to being the new record holders for the highest ever number of trains more than 15 minutes late.
They also claimed the top-spot for the most train cancellations ever recorded in a single month. The number of Avanti trains that actually arrived on time during this period was only one third of their total services. This is what the government considers a “drastic improvement”.
This is what success looks like under the current government. This is another example of the Conservatives rewarding failure with taxpayer’s money. It is no wonder constituents across Chester question if anything is currently working: NHS cases at record levels, people struggling to make dental appointments, public services disrupted by industrial action, pollution and sewage continuously dumped into our rivers, councuil budgets slashed by 20% in 12 years, homeowners and renters battling higher repayments, and now a dilapidated rail industry.
This is a government that repeatedly mishandles and mismanages every aspect of public life.
Chester residents deserve a reliable rail service they can count on. People should be able to expect timely and frequent trains to help them commute to work. Visitors to our beautiful city should not have to face the barrier of unreliable train services.
As it stands, our current rail industry does not work for the passengers that reply upon it. I’m sure the one cancellation frustrated Avanti customers in Chester would like to see is the cancellation of Avanti’s contract.