Gary Neville has branded Avanti West Coast a 'disgrace' after passengers were forced to sit in a toilet gangway on their journey.
The football broadcaster took to Twitter to slam the 'scandalous' rail operator and called on the government to 'nationalise our railways now'.
Neville later shared a video of the train manager emotionally saying he is 'really really sorry' over the train's intercom after customers were forced to sit in the toilet gangway.
READ MORE: A devoted mum who went to her grave without knowing the truth of her son's murder
Along with the video, Neville tweeted: "Sitting in a toilet gangway isn’t the issue. However listening to the Train Manager emotionally having to say 'sorry' to an overcrowded group of passengers and have to mention safety is scandalous and upsetting!"
He then also retweeted a response from musician Tim Burgess, who said that anyone who regularly travels between Manchester and London would agree with Neville.
It isn't the first time the former Manchester United footballer has hit out at rail operator Avanti West Coast, who run trains between London and Manchester. In September 2020, Neville tweeted: "The Train service London to Manchester is beyond a joke now @AvantiWestCoast. Rubbish. Anyway that’s the whinge today ... who is transport secretary. Is it @grantshapps?"
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “Short-notice sickness meant we had to cancel the service before Gary’s train which unfortunately meant his service was busier than usual.
"The Train Manager did a great job and got a longer train for Gary’s service but we’re sorry it was still very busy. We know our service isn’t good enough at the moment and we’re working hard to get the timetable back on a robust, reliable footing.”
Rail passengers are being urged only to travel if necessary on Saturday because of a strike by workers in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), Aslef, Unite and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) will stage a co-ordinated walkout, causing huge disruption to services.
A reduced timetable has been published, showing that just 11% of rail services will run, with some areas having no trains. Avanti West Coast will not be running any services at all on Saturday (October 1) or Wednesday (October 5) and have warned of severe disruption.
READ NEXT:
- Ofsted closes nursery after baby girl rushed to hospital in critical condition and woman arrested
- Greater Manchester braces for Hurricane Ian fallout as heavy rain set to hit
- Pub's hilarious sign to attract customers after busy road 'turns into pond'
- Mum who beat cancer NINE times hit with devastating diagnosis
- Messy Saturday night raving at lost Bolton nightclub unearthed on 90s TV show
