Restore Avanti rail services or end contract, leaders tell government

A rail firm's decision to limit services between Manchester and London is "a national outrage" that must be reversed, city leaders have said.

Avanti West Coast (AWC) said a limited timetable would be in place "until further notice" after it cut services and suspended ticket sales on Monday.

In a letter to the transport secretary, political leaders in both cities called the move "unacceptable".

AWC has apologised for any disruption.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokeswoman said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps would respond to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig by letter.

AWC slashed its timetables and suspended ticket sales on Monday due to what it called "unofficial strike action" by drivers, a claim the train drivers union Aslef rejects.

The provider said it will run as few as four trains an hour from Sunday in an attempt to halt the short-notice cancellations which have plagued its operations in recent weeks.

The operator also said most of its network will have no services on Saturday, due to strike action by members of Aslef, and has advised passengers not to travel.

In their letter, Mr Khan, Mr Burnham and Ms Craig said for the rail firm to make such large changes with no notice or consultation was "completely unacceptable" and would "damage some of the UK's largest and most important economic and cultural centres".

They said people attending Manchester Pride and London's Notting Hill Carnival would be affected, as well as sports fans and those visiting attractions in both cities.

"Our cities rely heavily on the West Coast Main Line and this unilateral withdrawal of services, on the basis of what appears to be a complete failure of Avanti's senior management to manage rostering and rest day working, is frankly a national outrage," they said.

They requested an urgent meeting with Mr Shapps and AWC "to prevent the enormous disruption and economic damage" and "agree a date for full restoration of the timetable".

They added that AWC blaming the disruption on "unofficial strike action" by train driver's union Aslef was "disingenuous" and if the firm did not give a date and refused to attend a meeting, Mr Shapps should begin the process of withdrawing the operator's contract when the current arrangements end in October.

"[The move] reflects extremely poorly on an operator that should be working hard to bring the public back to rail," they said.

"Avanti's decision to suspend ticket sales damages the efforts of other public transport operators, making it harder for people to take the train and other sustainable forms of travel."

An AWC spokeswoman said the reduced timetable was "due to the current industrial relations climate, which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels, as well as unofficial strike action by Aslef members".

"As a result of the majority of drivers declaring themselves unavailable for overtime, our customers have faced multiple short-notice cancellations on our network, which has had a severe impact on their plans," she said.

She added that the reduced timetable would "ensure a reliable service is delivered, so our customers can travel with greater certainty" and apologised for the "enormous frustration and inconvenience it will cause".

Tuesday 6 September: This story was amended to make clear Aslef rejected the claim they had engaged in unofficial strike action.

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