Avanti West Coast Cancellations

Scrambled Eggs said:

Thanks for the swift response.

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dk1 said:

No problem mate. Recruitment like daily running has no impact by such announcements. On the railway it just tends to be business as usual whilst others pick up the pieces behind the scenes.

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Scrambled Eggs said:

Yeah, this is all new to me. I recently passed my DMI. I’ve been in the talent pool a few months and waiting for a course. The courses seem to be going at a constant pace so there’s hope of getting on one sooner than later. Now hearing this news regarding poor performance it naturally throws you a bit.

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1D54 said:

Decent prices can be had up to GLC from W Mids and Crewe. Doubtless they will be going.

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Agenda for Transport for the North Board on Wednesday, 20th March, 2024, 10.30 am

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4. Avanti West Coast Performance
To consider the referral of the Rail North Committee to discuss and agree what actions are appropriate to secure improved performance.

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https://democracy.transportforthenorth.com/documents/s9294/Avanti%20West%20Coast%20Performance.pdf

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Subject: Avanti West Coast Train Performance Improvement

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1. Purpose of the Report:
1.1 To provide the Board with the opportunity to consider and agree a response to concerns about the performance of Avanti West Coast.
1.2 This matter has been referred to the Board by the Rail North Committee following its meeting of 21 February 2024.
2. Recommendations:
2.1 The Board is recommended to consider the two options set out in paragraph 7.1.

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7. Options for Consideration
7.1 It was clear from the discussion at the Rail North Committee that a continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the North. In referring the matter to the TfN Board the Committee requested that two options be presented to the Board for its consideration. Given the current situation the two most relevant options available to the Board are:

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Option 1 For the Board to adopt a public improvement target for Avanti West Coast as outlined in paragraph 6.3 and to ask for the Rail North Committee to review progress in June 2024 and report to the June meeting of the TfN Board. The TfN Board may then, at that point consider the need for further measures.
Option 2 For the Board to submit Statutory Advice to the Secretary of State for Transport that Avanti West Coast’s contract should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity (with the Operator of Last Resort taking on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line)

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weeklycommuter said:

The Transport for The North Board meets tomorrow 20 March 2024 at 10.30am

The following item is on the agenda

which references the following report recommending two options, one of which is to call for the termination of Avanti West Coast's contract and to transfer Avanti West Coast services to the Operator of Last Resort. I do not know which option the Transport for The North Board will agree and whether the Government has to act on the decision.

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185 said:

It's worth noting one thing that has changed since the free money PowerPoint discovery. Rather than apologise and explain themselves, FirstGroup/ Avanti bosses (perhaps wrongly) launched a witch-hunt into who leaked the details of the PowerPoint.

It appears the leak happened after some plank in higher management selected two (first) letters from the email list to find someone BUT inadvertently sent the PowerPoint to ALL recipients beginning with those letters in the company who received a copy, although only a few opened it.

Some staff, including frontline employees were hauled in and interviewed, it is alleged their phones were examined but I'm not certain on that. It appears someone then snitched to the ORR and ICO about the FG Gestapo operation. Oh deary

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danbarjon said:

I've noticed some good prices recently including some Avanti First Class GLC to WBQ for £46! Not too bad if you ask me.

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1D54 said:

Excellent prices but what i was getting at is will such prices disappear if the WCML goes OLR.?

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1D54 said:

Excellent prices but what i was getting at is will such prices disappear if the WCML goes OLR.?

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1D54 said:

Excellent prices but what i was getting at is will such prices disappear if the WCML goes OLR.?

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Rover77 said:

Avanti drivers on strike again Friday 5th April. Despite the overtime offer the feeling between staff of all grades and management is beyond repair. I'm still expecting big news tomorrow.

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Rail operator Avanti West Coast (AWC) should be stripped of its contract "at the earliest possible opportunity", according to Transport for the North.
The lobbying group represents leaders from transport, business and politics across the north of England.
It has demanded action from Transport Secretary Mark Harper, saying "a continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the North."
AWC's parent company said a change of operators would not improve services.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has been contacted for a comment.
In September last year, Avanti West Coast's operating contract was renewed by the DfT for up to nine years, with Mr Harper claiming it was "back on track" following major disruption.
AWC, which runs services between London and Scotland through the West Midlands and north west of England, is owned by FirstGroup in a joint venture with Italian company Trenitalia.
At a meeting in Leeds, two options were considered by the Transport for the North (TfN) board - either to demand improvements in Avanti's performance by June, or to call for its contract to be terminated immediately.
After hearing from First Rail's managing director Steve Montgomery about AWC's performance, the TfN board - which includes Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram - voted to demand services be brought back under public ownership.
It wants the Operator of Last Resort (OLR) to take on short-term responsibility for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line.
Office of Rail and Road figures show Avanti West Coast cancelled 9.1% of its services in the four weeks to 2 March.

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Strip Avanti of West Coast Main Line franchise, say Northern leaders

Northern business, transport and political leaders say action "must be taken" immediately.

www.bbc.co.uk

RMT Press Office:

RMT today welcomed the news that the Board of Transport for the North voted unanimously to write to the Secretary of State calling on him to terminate Avanti West Coast’s contract and bring it into public ownership under the Operator of Last Resort.

With Avanti’s performance consistently poor and deteriorating since December, Transport for the North, which brings together Northern Metro Mayors and council leaders, called for Transport Secretary Mark Harper to put an end to First Group’s tenure on the West Coast mainline.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “We welcome Transport for the North’s decision. This would be the right move for the North, for the country as a whole and for the workforce at Avanti. The government must now act.”

Transport for the North voted on a proposal “For the Board to submit Statutory Advice to the Secretary of State for Transport that Avanti West Coast’s contract should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity (with the Operator of Last Resort taking on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line).”

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RMT welcomes Transport for the North’s call to terminate Avanti contract

Rail union RMT today welcomed the news that the Board of Transport for the North voted unanimously to write to the Secretary of State calling on him to terminate Avanti West Coast’s contract and bring it into public ownership under the Operator of Last Resort.

www.rmt.org.uk

Llandudno said:

Perhaps this was the next option on the Random Excuse Generator……

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danbarjon said:

Just seen an article with the title "Avanti West Coast could be nationalised within days" so maybe we will be seeing an OLR West Coast sometime soon..

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News
20th Mar 2024

Avanti West Coast Rail could be nationalised within days​

AVA EVANS

https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.joe.co.uk/news/government-to-seize-failing-avanti-railway-427671
https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Avanti+West+Coast+Rail+could+be+nationalised+within+days&url=https://www.joe.co.uk/news/government-to-seize-failing-avanti-railway-427671

Speculation grows over whether rail operator will be brought under imminent public control​

Control of the Avanti West Coast rail franchise could be handed over to the operator of last resort (OLR) within the Department for Transport, sources claim.

The move would see services brought under emergency public control by a business that acts on behalf of the government when companies fail or breach the terms of their contract.

On Wednesday morning, the Board of Transport for the North made up of mayors and council leaders, unanimously backed a move to ask the Secretary of State to terminate Avanti West Coast’s contract and bring it into public ownership – fuelling speculation of an imminent decision.

It follows months of significant disruption and regular cancellations, owing in part to an irreparable breakdown in relations between staff and management.

In September, the joint venture between UK-based FirstGroup and Italian train operator Trenitalia had been awarded a lucrative long-term contract to keep running intercity services on the west coast main line.

At the time, Transport Secretary Mark Harper described Britain’s least punctual operator in the country as “back on track”, despite warnings from the RMT union that Avanti were “an unmitigated disaster”.

Ten days after the rail franchise was awarded its lucrative long-term government contract, the company would post record losses totalling £68.4million in the 27 weeks to 30› September, down from £8.7million at the same point one year prior.

The dramatic losses were incurred after First Group terminated its participation in two local government pension schemes.

Following the end of franchising, firms that operate passenger services have been paid a management fee by the Department for Transport, and are covered for most of their operating costs.

While the management fee is not disclosed to the public, public accounts show the Department for Transport has paid Avanti £1.175 billion to run its service since the pandemic.

According to First Group’s latest yearly profits to March 2023, Avanti made a pre-tax profit of £12.8m and subsequently paid dividends of £11m to its shareholders, mainly First Rail Holdings.

Two months later, it would relinquish control of the TransPennine Express rail franchise, after months of cancellations and delays.

All decisions, including payments to shareholders, were signed off by Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

Earlier this year, Novara Media reported that during an internal company presentation in January of this year, senior management at the operator revelled in the “free money” provided by the taxpayer.

The slides joked that Avanti West Coast would be awarded performance-based bonuses by the Treasury for achieving a less-than-perfect service in a scheme labelled “too good to be true”.

The “regrettable” presentation was presented shortly after the Christmas period, in which just shy of half of Avanti West Coast’s trains arrived on time, with 23 per cent cancelled altogether at short notice.

East Coast Main Line (LNER), Northern Rail, Southeastern Trains, and TransPennine Express are all currently operated under public control by the Department for Transport’s operator of last resort (DOHL).

The DOHL group currently runs more than 3,600 trains a day and employs over 14,800 staff.

It means currently nearly 25 per cent of all train journeys are taken on nationalised rail services.

Appearing at a Transport Select Committee in September of last year, Rail Minister Huw Merriman confirmed that there were no immediate plans to re-privatise the contracts it’s taken over through the Operator of Last Resort.

Merriman said the OLR was running its franchises very well: “the performance across their stable across every single one of their four operators has gone up if you look at June/July’s performance”.

One of the operators under public control, LNER, has seen record passenger usage.

Between January and March 2023, passenger journeys were at 111 per cent when compared with the same pre-pandemic period for 2019.

The Department for Transport said not to expect an announcement today (Wednesday).

The National Rail Contract awarded to First Trenitalia in September of 2023 will have a core term of three years, after which the Department could terminate the contract at any point with three months’ notice.

FirstGroup and Avanti said while they were aware of nationalisation rumours, they believed them to be false.

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1D54 said:

Decent prices can be had up to GLC from W Mids and Crewe. Doubtless they will be going.

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dk1 said:

Shouldn’t be. Everything just carries on as normal.

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td97 said:

The main operational issue will likely be an exodus of staff, who are not obliged to move to OLR, and can leave without serving their notice period.

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dk1 said:

Why on earth would they do that?

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td97 said:

The same happened on TPE when it moved to OLR. Traincrew currently in a notice period can effectively leave instantly. Others not in their notice period have the snap opportunity to leave for work elsewhere without waiting out a 3-6 notice period.

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dk1 said:

But many Avanti staff are on better money. I doubt you’ll see many if any who would jump ship. It means nothing to staff except a different logo. Everything just stays exactly the same.

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Krokodil said:

Those looking towards retirement, or moving to freight for example. TfW has poached a few Avanti TMs as trainee drivers too.

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dk1 said:

I don’t understand what difference it makes. We are fully protected in every respect.

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