Transport for the North has expressed their disappointment after Avanti West Coast were given six months to improve their service.
Avanti, which operates the main Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston service, was widely criticised for slashing timetables and suspending ticket sales. With its current contract coming to an end, it has now been given a six-month extension which will see it continuing to run services on the West Coast Mainline until April 1, 2023.
The Government says this will give Avanti the opportunity to improve services. It says nearly 100 additional drivers will have entered formal service this year between April and December.
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This, the Government says, has meant the company has begun to add more services as new drivers and those who need re-training become available to work.
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "We need train services which are reliable and resilient to modern day life. Services on Avanti have been unacceptable and while the company has taken positive steps to get more trains moving, it must do more to deliver certainty of service to its passengers.
"We have agreed a 6-month extension to Avanti to assess whether it is capable of running this crucial route to a standard passengers deserve and expect. The problems facing Avanti over recent weeks stem from old working practices that mean shifts are often covered by existing drivers volunteering to work above their 35 contracted hours.
"This antiquated practice shows just how urgent it is for us to modernise our railways, so passengers benefit from reliable services that don’t rely on the goodwill of drivers volunteering to work overtime."
Responding to the news, Transport for the North chair Lord Patrick McLoughlin described the service as "sub-par".
He said: "Our members are naturally disappointed, as it’s communities and businesses across the North that are being impacted by this sub-par level of service that is undermining economic growth and the well-being of many people across the region who haven’t been able to rely on this service for far too long now. Returning to having a good, reliable service on the West Coast Mainline is a pro-growth policy that will benefit the North of England’s economy, and as such it should be a priority as the current level of service is just not acceptable.
“There now needs to be a clear action plan in place with transparent targets and consequences for the company if they do not meet them - and TfN are ready and willing to help provide oversight if called upon - as what matters above all else is getting back to putting passengers first.”
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has previously written to the former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, in a letter in which he states that the "current situation on what is supposed to be the country's premier intercity rail network is completely unacceptable."
Mayor Rotheram said the current hourly service between London and Liverpool was already "completely inadequate."
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