TWO of Britain’s least reliable train operators have been handed long-term contract renewals.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced that CrossCountry, whose network stretches across large parts of the country, will continue to run services.
It also renewed Avanti West Coast’s contract, which SNP MP Gavin Newlands slammed as "extraordinary".
Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures show the equivalent of 6.8% of CrossCountry services were cancelled between April and June.
That was the third highest proportion across all operators, behind only Grand Central and Transport for Wales Rail.
CrossCountry’s network stretches from Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland to Penzance in western Cornwall via Birmingham.
It is owned by Arriva, which is a UK-based subsidiary of the German state railway operator Deutsche Bahn.
CrossCountry’s services have been badly disrupted by staff striking in a dispute over working conditions.
Its new contract, which starts on October 15, has a maximum term of eight years but can be terminated at any point after four years.
Avanti West Coast’s new deal has a maximum length of nine years but can be axed after three years.
It comes after Avanti West Coast was handed two consecutive six-month contracts and ordered to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance on vital routes, which was largely attributed to drivers refusing to work paid overtime shifts.
The operator was found to be the most unreliable train operator in September last year, according to data from the Office of Rail.
The proportion of its trains being cancelled has been cut to “as low as 1.1% over the past year”, the DfT said, however.
The operator runs trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central, with branches to Birmingham, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.
It is a joint venture between FirstGroup (70%) and Italian state operator Trenitalia (30%).
Newlands saif it was an "award for failure".
He tweeted: "This is extraordinary. The problems with Avanti's service were clear for some time. I fully recognise that there has been an improvement in the service, but it seems to me that an award of up to 9 years remains an award for failure. I have an Urgent Question to the Sec of State."
This is extraordinary. The problems with Avanti's service were clear for some time. I fully recognise that there has been an improvement in the service, but it seems to me that an award of up to 9 years remains an award for failure. I have an Urgent Question to the Sec of State. https://t.co/So7eiWg942
— Gavin Newlands MP 🏴🇺🇦 (@GavNewlandsSNP) September 19, 2023
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “The routes Avanti West Coast operate provide vital connections, and passengers must feel confident that they can rely on the services to get them where they need to be at the right time.
“Over the past year, short-term contracts were necessary to rebuild the timetable and reduce cancellations.
“Now Avanti are back on track, providing long-term certainty for both the operator and passengers will best ensure that improvements continue.”
Avanti West Coast’s contract is under the West Coast Partnership (WCP), which also involves the company being the shadow operator for HS2.
FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland said: “Our West Coast Partnership team has worked hard over recent months to deliver improvements for Avanti passengers, including an increase in the number of services in the timetable and high levels of reliability for customers.
“The new National Rail Contract agreed today will allow our team to use its expertise on further improvements.
“These include programmes to refurbish the existing fleet and to introduce new, more environmentally friendly trains, which will encourage more passengers to return to the network and help deliver the UK’s decarbonisation agenda.”
FirstGroup said the deal is a management contract under which the DfT “retains all revenue risk and substantially all cost risk”.
The WCP will earn a fixed annual management fee of £5.1 million, with the opportunity to earn a variable fee of up to £15.8 million per year based on criteria such as punctuality.
