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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello
'Objectively the worst line in the country'. That's how the BBC's Nick Robinson described Avanti's West Coast Main Line service in a bruising interview with one of the rail firm's bosses on Radio 4 this morning.
Richard Scott, Avanti's director of corporate affairs, admitted the under-fire service was 'not good enough', but promised passengers things would get better in time for Christmas. We'll hear more of what Mr Scott had to say in today's newsletter.
Speaking of Christmas we'll also visit a primary school in Oldham that's made a heartbreaking plea for help for families struggling to afford to celebrate the big day. And there's also anger in Salford after plans for a long-awaited £20m leisure centre were shelved due to anticipated government cuts.
'We know we're not good enough at the moment'
Richard Scott has probably had easier Friday mornings. The Avanti boss faced a grilling from Nick Robinson on Radio 4's Today programme over the rail operator's 'appalling' Manchester to London service, which has seen timetables slashed in recent months.
Robinson described Avanti as 'objectively the worst line in the country' and asked why the rail operator, who took over the West Coast Main Line trains from Virgin in 2019, deserved the six months they have been given by the government to 'sort itself out'.
"Well, we know we're not good enough at the moment, Nick, we haven't been good enough over the last few weeks, and we're still not good enough at the moment," Mr Scott replied. "But we are making progress. We have put in extra services above the base timetable, that started in August."
Mr Scott said he was 'very, very sorry' for the current state of Avanti services, and admitted they are 'letting our customers down'. But, he said he 'didn't recognise' descriptions of Avanti as 'the worst line in the country', saying they receive the most scrutiny because they are 'the most high-profile line'.
And he insisted that Avanti had a 'pipeline' of 100 new drivers coming out of training in a move that he said will allow the operator to get back to a 'near-normal' timetable 'soon' - with services from Manchester set to return to three trains an hour and run 'completely normally' in time for Christmas.
For long-suffering passengers who've endured months of cancellations and packed trains that will undoubtedly be welcome news, but we will wait and see.
A sign of the times?
A primary school in one of Britain's most deprived areas is appealing for help, after revealing it's planning a special Christmas Eve event for families who might not be able to afford to celebrate on the big day.
Alt Academy in Oldham is to invite pupils and their parents to the school for hot turkey sandwiches, hot chocolate with marshmallows by a a campfire, offering families a place to be warm and fed when the cost of living crisis is expected to hit hardest.
Tamsin Wood, assistant principal at the school, told the Manchester Evening News that while the area had always been poor, levels of hardship had got noticeably worse in recent years. She said: "Everybody’s in the same boat, we've seen a massive escalation in the number of families in hardship
"It’s soul destroying and heartwarming at the same time, we're trying to do our best and that makes us feel good but the fact we have to do that in 2022 for the families we care about is just tragic. We know that it’s going to be difficult we want to make memories, we want people to be warm and fed on Christmas Eve."
If you're able to help provide any donations to the school, please contact info@alt.theharmony.
Read more: Primary school which runs foodbank for struggling families issues heartbreaking plea
24 hour party people
A new BBC documentary about the Hacienda is in the offing. It's going to get its premiere at HOME next month, with music fans given the chance to attend.
The Hacienda: The Club That Shook Britain has been filmed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Whitworth Street's club's opening and will include interviews with many of the key players, including Peter Hook, Noel Gallagher and Shaun Ryder. Dianne Bourne has all the details.
Leisure centre plans shelved
The plans have been drawn up and the land has been cleared, but now an eagerly-awaited £20m leisure centre in Salford has been shelved due to expected government cuts. City council chiefs have put Pendleton leisure centre on the back burner following now ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's announcement of a potential £18billion of public spending cuts.
Salford is already facing a shortfall of £16m in its 2023/24 budget due to soaring energy costs. Spiralling inflation has also played a part in the 'indefinite suspension' of the leisure centre project which was earmarked for a parcel of land off Churchill Way next to Salford Shopping Precinct.
Pendleton councillor John Warmisham said: "We are really disappointed, although we understand the financial reasons. This lands squarely at the government's feet.
"The way they are behaving is scandalous. We were really excited that we were going to have a new leisure centre, which would've been across the road from a new youth zone - an ideal place. But we don't get a lot in Pendleton. It's an area of high deprivation."
Read more: Fury after plans for long-awaited £20m leisure centre shelved
Labour’s shadow chancellor said all new homes should be zero carbon as she visited Manchester to see the UK’s ‘first’ new carbon neutral social housing.
Rachel Reeves said the city’s efforts to make its housing more environmentally-friendly and bring down energy bills is ‘inspiring’.
The Leeds MP was taken on a tour of Ancoats where she was shown new developments which are believed to be the first of their kind in the country. Work has begun on 68 new affordable homes, of which 45 will be social housing, in a ‘low carbon’ development in New Islington.
Joseph Timan has the full story here
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Weather etc
Saturday: Heavy showers changing to sunny intervals by late morning. 13C.
Roadworks: Temporary traffic lights at Rochdale Road, Rochdale, near Uncouth Road, until October 19 due to water mains work.
Trivia question: Antonio Valvona is widely credited as the inventor of which practical sweet treat in Ancoats in the 1890s?
Manchester headlines
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CCTV appeal: Police have issued a CCTV appeal after a man was stabbed at a tram stop in north Manchester. The incident happened at Crumpsall Metrolink stop at around 11.30pm on Monday. Read more
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Drugs plot: An amateur chemist, who played a key role in a plot to flood the country with drugs, has been jailed. More here
- By-election: Labour has held the Edgeley and Cheadle Heath council seat in a by-election triggered by the death of stalwart Stockport councillor Sheila Bailey.
Worth a read
If you're planning a slap-up meal out this weekend, this piece by food drink and writer Ben Arnold might help you decide where to go. He's been studying the annual list of restaurants to have made it into the 2023 AA Guide and pulled together all the spots in Greater Manchester which have been recognised.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. I'm returning to the day job on Monday, when Beth Abbitt will be back in charge of the Mancunian Way. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
If you have stories you would like us to look into, email damon.wilkinson@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: The ice cream cone.
