The Government is to be called on to take the operation of the West Coast Main Line into public hands and terminate Avanti’s contract.
At a board meeting of Transport for the North in Leeds on Wednesday, a motion was passed to write to Transport Secretary Mark Harper to take the route off the firm “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
The decision comes after a report presented to the board stated that a “continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the North”.
Two options were considered by the board – to set a target for improvement by June or face “further measures” or to terminate the contract straight away.
During the meeting, Transport for the North heard from Avanti‘s managing director, Steve Montgomery.
The body will recommend to the Government that an Operator of Last Resort takes on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line.
The board’s decision comes after the organisation wrote to Mark Harper in December 2023 asking him to instruct officials to conduct a review into Avanti West Coast’s operation.
Transport for the North chairman Lord McLoughlin said: “Today’s board was very clear. The performance on the West Coast Main Line by Avanti has been so poor, for so long that action now must be taken.
“We will be writing statutory advice today to the secretary of state calling for Avanti to be relieved of its contract.
“The travelling public deserve a service they can rely on. But Avanti has fallen far too short of expectations for far too long now.”
In September 2023, Avanti West Coast was handed a nine-year contract to operate the West Coast Main Line.
At the time, the Department for Transport said the agreement would enable the company to “deliver improved services for passengers”.
The Government added that it had “dramatically” reduced cancellations to 1.1 per cent over the past year.
It also said that the contract will “allow the operator to plan ahead, giving them the certainty they need to prepare advance timetables, roll out new train fleets and continue their work to improve services”.
That deal came after the department placed Avanti West Coast on two consecutive short-term, six-month contracts and ordered it to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance on vital routes – including between Manchester, Birmingham and London.
Avanti West Coast is jointly owned by FirstGroup and Italian rail firm Trenitalia.
During its most recent financial year, Avanti handed £13.5m to its shareholders while its turnover increased from £894.8m to £978.2m. However, its pre-tax profits dipped from £16.6m to £12.3m.
Avanti took over the running of the west coast mainline from Virgin Trains in December 2019.
The Department for Transport and Avanti West Coast have been contacted for comment.