Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements her Department has placed on Avanti West Coast to improve their service levels on the West Coast Main Line.

Avanti West Coast (AWC) has put forward a recovery plan for improvement of its services to passengers as part of the short-term contract extension announced on Friday 7 October. Both the Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail have reviewed Avanti’s plan and are supportive of the proposition, noting its full and successful delivery requires agreement with unions. The Department is monitoring AWC’s delivery and holding AWC to account as appropriate.

The Department recognises the importance of high performing rail services for the communities, businesses and local economies they serve. The issues experienced on Avanti are exactly why we need to modernise the railways, to ensure passengers get a reliable timetable no matter when they travel and are not relying on drivers working overtime in the first place.