Avanti West Coast set for nationalisation in March as Alexander announces takeover
The government is set to bring Avanti West Coast into public ownership in March once its contract expires, with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander expected to announce the takeover in her Labour conference speech.
Britain’s worst-performing long-distance railway is set to be brought into public ownership in March, at the earliest opportunity once Avanti West Coast’s contract expires.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to announce the takeover in her speech to the Labour conference in Liverpool on Sunday, The Times reports. She is expected to tell delegates: “I get how frustrating it is when services aren’t up to scratch and yes, Liverpool, I hear you about the west coast main line. For years Avanti has been underperforming with passengers paying the price.”
Speaking to The Times before the announcement, Alexander said service on the London-to-Manchester route “hasn’t been good enough for far too long”, promising customers would “start to see a difference” under public ownership.
Avanti logged the highest proportion of cancellations in Britain this summer at double the national average. Punctuality on the country’s busiest line has fallen from about 60 per cent five years ago, and the operator approved more than 1.4 million delay repay claims in the year to March — about a million more than in 2019.
Andy Burnham was himself delayed on an Avanti service when returning to Westminster after his Makerfield by-election victory, and has repeatedly criticised the operator for unreliability, cancellations and high ticket prices.
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