Ministers have insisted the crises at Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express are partly the fault of rail unions, as Labour demanded action over claims that 18,000 northern services had been “lost” in a month.
The rail minister, Huw Merriman, told MPs the government would be deciding early in the new year whether to renew Avanti’s contract, as he spoke of concerns over whether the operator would restore its intercity timetable as promised this month.
