Avanti West Coast main line to be nationalised

Avanti West Coast main line to be nationalised

Avanti West Coast train services will be nationalised from March next year, the government has announced.

“For years, we’ve heard stories of Avanti underperforming, with passengers left paying the price. Enough is enough,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.

The decision is part of a government plan to upgrade rail infrastructure, reduce train delays and improve the passenger experience.

Avanti West Coast’s contract was set to expire on 7 March.

In a social media post, Prime Minister Andy Burnham repeated Alexander’s remarks.

“For years, people have been expected to put up with Avanti’s cancellations, delays, overcrowding, and a service that has failed them time and time again,” he said.

“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved over the last six years – from refurbishing our Pendolino fleet and introducing our new Evero trains to running more services than ever before,” Andy Mellors, managing director at Avanti West Coast, said.

“Over the coming months, we’ll work closely with the government to ensure a seamless transition into public ownership while remaining focused on delivering for our customers and communities,” he added.

In May, Avanti West Coast said one-in-seven rail services would be cut on its busiest routes after a government request to reduce spending.

Avanti West Coast - a joint venture between FirstGroup (70%) and Italian state operator Trenitalia (30%) - said the move would cause minimal disruption to passengers and would not reduce revenues.

Companies such as Avanti West Coast have their finances heavily shaped by the Department for Transport (DfT) because of contracts introduced in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

All train services run under DfT contracts are being transferred to public ownership.

Great Western Railway - which is owned by FirstGroup - is due to be brought under public ownership in December.

Several rail firms across the country are already publicly owned, including Great Anglia and South Western Railway. Welsh services were nationalised in 2021 and Scotland took trains into public ownership the following year.