Louise Haigh comments on the decision to award Avanti West Coast a long-term contract

Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the decision to award Avanti West Coast a long-term contract, said:

“Passengers who rely on this abysmal service will be appalled that, despite being almost rock bottom of the league table for delays, Avanti is being awarded a lucrative new contract. That’s on top of millions of pounds in performance bonuses.

“The only reliable thing about Britain’s railways under the Tories’ is the waste of taxpayers’ money, which the government has put into the pockets of shareholders.

“Rather than rewarding failing operators by renewing their contracts, Labour would end this scandal by bringing them back into public ownership as they expire and put passengers first.”

Ends

Notes

The latest Office of Rail and Road passenger rail performance stats from August 2023 confirmed Avanti West Coast is the second worst performing operator in the country for punctuality of rail services - with only 48 per cent of its services on time.

Cross Country, which has also seen its contract extended, was the fourth worst performing operator - with only 51.4 per cent of services on time in August 2023.

This compares with a national average across Britain of 70.1 per cent of services on time.