Northern leaders call for rail operator to be stripped of franchise

AVANTI WEST COAST ACCUSED OF 'INFLICTING DAMAGE ON ECONOMY'

- JOSEPH TIMAN

NORTHERN mayors and council leaders have voted for Avanti West Coast to lose its contract.

The Transport for the North (TfN) board unanimously backed the move to formally call for the rail operator's contract to be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity! It comes just six months after the government awarded Avanti a new contract to continue running rail services between London and Manchester, as well as to Liverpool, Wales and Scotland. The transport secretary must consider any statutory advice that is issued by the regional body, but it cannot terminate the nine-year contract and take services under public control until three years have passed.

At a TfN meeting in Leeds, Steve Montgomery, managing director at First Rail which owns Avanti, apologised for the 'inconvenience' caused by cancellations which have 'crept up' since October. Mr Montgomery said the firm has now secured a trade union deal that will help address issues with staffing which means Avanti has 'really struggled on certain days' - particularly Saturdays.