Fury as Avanti's west coast contract extended

RAIL passengers have hit out at the government’s move to extend the contract of troubled train operator Avanti West Coast – despite Transport Secretary Mark Harper admitting there is ‘still more work to be done to bring services up to the standards we expect’.

- HELENA VESTY

They have been joined by MPs and Greater Manchester leaders who are also criticising the Department for Transport’s decision to grant Avanti a contract extension despite months of ‘poor performance’.

Mayor Andy Burnham has launched an ultimatum, saying ‘the time for excuses has passed – they either improve or hand back the franchise’.

The operator has struggled with reliability and with passengers being unable to book tickets in advance, and was slammed in August last year for cutting services between Manchester and London. The contract was due to expire at the end of March but has been extended until October 15 – the Department for Transport said the extension comes as ‘performance at Avanti is steadily improving’.

‘Improvements’ have included the return to three trains per hour between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston after customers balked at the slashed timetable over the summer.