, Labour’s Shadow Secretary
of State for Transport, commenting on the Minister’s refusal to
strip Avanti West Coast of its contract at Transport Questions in
the House of Commons, said:
“There has been nothing more emblematic of the managed decline of
Britain’s railways than Avanti West Coast being awarded a
nine-year contract extension despite failing passengers again and
again.
“Labour has long been clear that if Avanti is in breach of its
contractual obligations, then it should be stripped of that
contract. Ministers need to explain whether this is the case and
why they are refusing to act.
“Under the Conservatives, failing operators are rewarded with
contract extensions and second chances.
“With Labour, rail franchises will be brought back into public
ownership as contracts expire or are broken, and passengers will
always come first.”
Ends
Exchange at Transport Questions on Thursday
21st March:
Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister, : “It's a simple
question to the Minister today, will he strip Avanti of it’s
contract: Yes or no?
Rail Minister : “No Mr Speaker, we will not.”
Notes:
- Labour has committed to bringing rail franchises back into
public ownership as contracts expire or are broken, and will
deliver a unified rail network that puts passengers at the heart
of every decision.
- The latest quarterly rail performance statistics from the
Office and Road and road show Avanti West Coast was the worst
operator for punctuality, with an abysmal 37.2% of trains on time
[1]
- Avanti West Coast was also the second worst train operator
for reliability, second only to CrossCountry in the amount of
trains cancelled between October and December 2023 [2]
- It has only been six months since the Conservatives awarded
Avanti West Coast a nine-year contract extension, in spite of its
abysmal performance, with the Transport Secretary describing them
as “back on track” [3]
- Labour has long called for Avanti West Coast to be stripped
of its contract if it is breach of its contractual obligations to
deliver for passengers. These calls from Labour go back as far as
August 2022, nineteen months ago [4]
- Northern leaders represented at Transport for the North have
unanimously called for Avanti West Coast to be stripped of its
contract [5]
- The Government has still not published its latest contract
with Avanti West Coast [6]
Sources:
- [1] https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/jkfh21zr/performance-stats-release-oct-dec-2023.pdf (P16)
- [2] https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/jkfh21zr/performance-stats-release-oct-dec-2023.pdf (P17)
- [3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avanti-west-coast-awarded-long-term-contract-after-significant-improvements-for-passengers
- [4] https://twitter.com/LouHaigh/status/1561390004307464194/photo/1
- [5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68619205
- [6] https://novaramedia.com/2024/03/13/government-accused-of-cover-up-of-its-deal-with-one-of-britains-worst-train-companies/
