Avanti West Coast: Who runs the troubled train operator and how much do we pay them?

Avanti West Coast customers have been plagued by months of cancelled trains, late-running services and now the company faces being stripped of its licence.

RMT Union members will be taking part in an Avanti West Coast strike on the 11th and 12th December - causing yet more disruption to its services. And RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has described Avanti's treatment of their staff as 'some of the worst we've seen in the industry'.

The Department for Transport says it is investing billions into northern transport, and the Transport minister, Mark Harper, is due to meet elected mayors from the North this week.

Meanwhile, frustrated passengers have been caught in the middle.

So where does this leave the future of the west coast route?

Who owns Avanti West Coast?

In 2019, Avanti West Coast took over operations from Virgin Trains, which had run the franchise since 1997. It is owned by First Trenitalia - a joint venture between FirstGroup (70% stake) and Trenitalia - Italy's primary train operator (30%).

First Group - a £800m company listed on the London Stock Exchange - has a majority stake in both TransPennine Express and the Avanti West Coast main line.

Trenitalia is run by the Italian government.

Does it receive money from the taxpayer?

Yes. Train operators are paid a fixed fee by taxpayers to run services after the ending of franchising in May 2021. They are contractually entitled to a “performance fee” for exceeding minimum service standards.

Despite its services being blighted by delays and disruption, Avanti is understood to be eligible for a performance fee of more than £1m.

Avanti West Coast also received £725m last year from the government to help it cope with the impact of the Covid pandemic.

How long has Avanti been running a reduced timetable?

Between 14 August and 18 September 2022, Avanti West Coast reduced its timetable - citing unofficial strike action from its employees. 

This allegation was disputed by Aslef which accused Avanti of lying and blamed their lack of recruitment, especially of train drivers, for the problems. 

The number of trains running from London Euston to Manchester currently stands at two an hour, with some additional services.

In the three months to mid-October, Avanti cancelled 1,440 trains, resulting in overcrowded services at other times.

The CEO of Avanti resigned in September 2022, but the problems have persisted.

What kind of disruption have passengers faced?

A snapshot of this morning's services show the chaos facing Avanti passengers.

We analysed the first 19 services running on the morning of 28 November, up until 11:00.

One service was cancelled, and 17 services were either delayed or did not call at all stations due to staff shortages. Just one service appears to have run on time and to schedule.

• 05:31 London Euston to Glasgow Central due 10:37. Started from Crewe. 25 minutes late. Faulty train.

• 06:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston. Cancelled due to a shortage of train crew.

• 06:43 London Euston to Edinburgh. Didn't call at Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Carlisle, Haymarket and Edinburgh due to a shortage of train crew.

• 06:52 Edinburgh to London Euston. Didn't call at Edinburgh, Haymarket, Carlisle, Penrith North Lakes and Lancaster. 10 minutes late.

• 07:10 London Euston to Glasgow Central. 16 minutes late.

• 07:23 London Euston to Blackpool North. Delayed by 14 minutes.

• 07:37 Glasgow Central to London Euston. 14 minutes late.

• 07:55 London Euston to Glasgow Central. Didn't call at Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Penrith North Lakes, Carlisle and Glasgow Central due to crew shortage. 

• 08:23 London Euston to Edinburgh. Terminated at Preston due to a shortage of train crew.

• 08:36 Glasgow Central to London Euston. Didn't call at Glasgow Central, Motherwell, Carlisle, Penrith North Lakes and Lancaster due to a shortage of train crew.

• 08:52 Edinburgh to London Euston - 15 minute delay. 

• 08:55 Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston. 10 minutes late.

• 09:40 Glasgow Central to London Euston

• 09:47 Blackpool North to London Euston. Started from Preston and terminated at Wolverhampton due to a shortage of train crew.

• 09:51 Crewe to Holyhead- 20 minutes late.

• 10:07 London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street. 10 minutes late

• 10:20 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. 15 minutes late.

• 10:23 London Euston to Edinburgh. 10 minutes late

• 10:40 Glasgow Central to London Euston. Started from Preston due to a shortage of train crew.

How much do tickets cost?

We also took a look at the cost of an open return from both Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston.

For passengers wanting to travel from Manchester to London for 9am on any given Tuesday between now and 20 December, the price of a return ticket is £369.40.

For passengers wanting to travel from Liverpool to London - again in time for 9am - the cost was up to £342.60 for an open return.

What's next for Avanti West Coast?

In October 2022, the UK government extended Avanti's contract for six months but stated "drastic improvements" were necessary if the operator wants to hold on to the franchise.

Professor Juergen Maier, who is vice-chairman of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said today: ''Avanti West Coast mainline is only running one train per hour at the moment and it needs to be three per hour.

"But the problem is unless they sort the issue of having more train drivers, sorting what's known as the rest day working issue, which is an agreement to pay people overtime on their resting days - then, if we don't have enough drivers when the new timetable goes live, it's going to be utter chaos and people being able to rely on their journeys even less than they are now."

He went on: "Let's hope this is the week where there is a landing zone and agreements can be made, we can end the chaos and we can look forward to a good Christmas and business can get on to managing their activities."

Around 100 additional drivers will have entered formal service at Avanti this year between April and December.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...