Greater Manchester (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Mayor Andy Burnham has composed to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to advise the cancellation of Avanti West Coast’s contract.
Why Is Mayor Burnham Requesting Cancellation of Avanti’s Contract?
Mr Burnham exemplified that, following a Rail North Committee session with Avanti representatives last week, it became apparent that the operator’s performance had not materially enhanced since March.
In his letter, Mr Burnham wrote: The Mayor of Greater Manchester admitted that “current performance is inappropriate across several operators”, but cited “specific issues” with Avanti West Coast.
How Has Avanti West Coast’s Performance Been Evaluated?
Data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), detailing passenger rail performance between January and March 2024, showed that 44.5% of Avanti West Coast services reached on time, in comparison to an industry average of 68.3%. Nevertheless, this observed an improvement on the 37.2% recorded in the previous quarter.
How Has Avanti’s Performance Compared to Industry Averages?
Meanwhile, the ORR found that Avanti had a revocation score of 8.5% between January and March, compared to an industry average of 3.3%. 69.1% of the cancellations were discovered to be attributable to the operator, while 30.9% were attributable to Network Rail. The Rail North Committee discovered that the reliability of the West Coast Main Line was of growing problem, concurring with ORR data that losses of Network Rail infrastructure were liable for close to 63-64% of delays.
Mr Burnham stated that the Committee would be pleased to work with the Department for Transport to find solutions to enhance the performance of the West Coast Main Line.
How Has Avanti’s Performance Improved or Declined?
Avanti was granted a new long-term contract last September following important improvements to reliability, punctuality and customer happiness, as cancellations were lowered to as little as 1.1% over 12 months. It was granted on the back of two short-term six-month contracts, during which Avanti had to design a recovery plan to address poor performance on key routes.
Then-Transport Secretary Mark Harper stated: “Over the past year, short-term contracts were required to rebuild the timetable and decrease cancellations. Now Avanti is back on track, providing long-term certainty for both the operator and passengers will best ensure that improvements continue.”
The new long-term agreement began in October 2023, with a core term of three years and a maximum potential term of nine years. Under the terms of the contract, after three years the Transport Secretary can conclude it at any time with three months’ notice. It is still over two years until this clause is useful.