Passengers trying to book train tickets to London at the weekend have been left fuming - as Avanti have not yet released tickets for the West Coast Main Line route for Saturday and Sunday travel. Millions are set to descend on the capital to pay their respects to The Queen, with many aiming to travel over the weekend to be in London in time for the State Funeral on Monday at 11am.
But anyone checking on train booking Apps over the weekend were left with messages saying "sold out" for virtually ALL Avanti trains travelling from Glasgow through Manchester and Birmingham down to London Euston across Saturday September 17 and Sunday September 18. The operator says this is because timetables have not yet been confirmed - and tickets have still not be released this morning [Monday, September 12].
Millions of people are set to travel to London over the course of the coming week, ready to pay their respects to the Queen in the capital. Well-wishers will be lining the streets of London for the State Funeral of the Monarch on Monday, September 15 at 11am.
Read more : Closures and cancellations in Greater Manchester following the death of the Queen
The public will also be able to pay their respects at Westminster Hall from Wednesday, September 14, when the Queen's coffin will lie in State, with people able to access the site 24 hours a day including across Saturday and Sunday.
But anyone hoping to travel by train on the West Coast Main Line on either Saturday or Sunday, which includes stations like Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham down to London, are facing uncertainty over tickets. Due to ongoing issues at Avanti, train timetables are not being published until the train operator can be sure of staffing available for each service.
For people trying to plan travel to the capital at the weekend - set to be one of the busiest in the capital for decades - that means simply not knowing if they can get a train at the time they want across Saturday and Sunday.
Avanti say customers should "check back soon" for the timetables to go live. A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast told the MEN: "Tickets for travel next weekend have not yet been released. Customers are advised to watch our website and social media for updates and plan ahead as services are expected to be very busy."
But fuming customers say how CAN they plan ahead, when tickets are not on sale. Twitter user @FaceUrchin tweeted Avanti to say: "When will you be publishing the timetable for services from 17/09 please? There are likely to be 10's of 1000's trying to get to London to pay their respects to The Queen and it is frankly ridiculous that no timetable is available."
Twitter user DebsyDo was among those taking Avanti to task over the lack of timetable for the weekend. After asking why no tickets are available from London Euston to Lancaster, she added: "Appreciate your reply and obviously they have not been released. Incredibly short notice though how can I plan my journey to pay my respect to our Queen?"
Kirsten Tinman added: "I think many of us Northern folk will be unable to visit London to pay our respects due to the unreliability of @AvantiWestCoast."
Andy Nelson tweeted on Monday morning: "Is there any update when you expect to release timetables/tickets for trains on Sat 17th and Sun 18th, please? It seems very late in the day for details still not to be available." To which Avanti replied: "It should be in the next day or so".
A statement on Avanti's website on Sunday, September 11, said: "The funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will take place at 11am on Monday 19 September at Westminster Abbey, London.
"We recognise that many of our customers will make their way to London and other destinations to pay their respects at Royal residences. This could lead to busy services and station closures over the mourning period as well as on the day of the funeral.
"Avanti West Coast, alongside our industry partners across the transport network, will work as hard as it can to enable people to pay their respects, either in London, or at commemorations along our route.
"We expect services to be very busy during this time so ask people to check before they travel, plan ahead and leave plenty of time for your journey.
The statement added: "We’ll update our website with new timetable information in the coming days. Our people will be on hand to help reach your destination. Thank you in advance for your patience."
Avanti has been under fire for months from both customers and MPs after announcing last month that it was cutting the number of trains between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly from one every 20 minutes to one an hour 'until further notice' - with the MEN going on to reveal complaints from passengers of 'disruption every single week'.
GM Mayor Andy Burnham has been leading calls for Government intervention on the situation. He said the reduced timetable was introduced by Avanti 'to provide greater certainty to passengers', but it had 'comprehensively failed'. He said he's personally witnessed 'chaos' and passenger 'stress' over double-booked seats, and revealed commuters have criticised the firm's website for being 'slow' to release tickets and for 'pushing' passengers towards more expensive options.
Avanti West Coast - the brand name for a partnership between Aberdeen-based transport company FirstGroup and Italian firm Trenitalia - have run services on the West Coast Main Line route from December 2019 after the demise of Virgin Trains. The 400-mile train network links London with towns and cities across England, north Wales and Scotland.
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