Avanti West Coast
“AS of today, we are Britain’s biggest train operator,” said FirstGroup Chief Executive Matthew Gregory at the official launch of Avanti West Coast at London Euston on December 9.
First Trenitalia has taken over the West Coast Partnership franchise, running the first trains on December 8. It has replaced Virgin Trains, which has operated the route since 1997.
AWC will run the franchise until the start of operation of HS2 Phase 1 (originally planned for 2026), at which point the second phase of the franchise (due to run until 2031) will transition to a management contract.
AWC is a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia. On December 6, FirstGroup confirmed a £350 million order for 23 trains from Hitachi (see separate story) that are to enter traffic from May 2022.
Virgin Trains was a joint venture between Virgin Group and
Stagecoach, and the pair (together with French state operator SNCF) had been bidding for the new
WCP deal. However, in April the Department for Transport disqualified Stagecoach from bidding for franchises ( RAIL 877), which meant the VT brand would vanish.
In the longer term, the new franchise will also operate HS2.
The current operation is split in two, with Avanti West Coast as the customer-facing brand and West Coast Partnership Development working with the DfT and HS2 Ltd to design and develop high-speed services for the new railway.
“We’re delighted to start serving the customers who take 40 million journeys every year on the West Coast,” said First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery.
Trenitalia MD Orazio Iacono added: “We’re honoured to begin operating inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line, one of the busiest railways in Europe, that will bring a host of improvements for the millions of people who use it every year.
“Trenitalia will also be using its skills to help design and manage high speed rail services from North to South in the UK over the next few years.”
Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West and Central Region, said of the relationship with the new operator (and others on the West Coast Main
Line): “We can only be successful if we work together. We are spending £3 billion over the next four years to improve this railway and we are putting passengers first - that is only logical.
“A whole railway collaboration opens up opportunities. Passenger volumes are expected to rise 18% and while HS2 and East West Rail are fantastic opportunities, they are two new railways that need to be integrated.”
The franchise plans include not only the 23 Hitachi trains (to replace 20 Class 221 Super Voyagers), but also the refurbishment of all 56 Class 390 Pendolinos.
Some 25,000 replacement seats will be installed on the ‘390s’. There will be 900 extra car parking spaces, 263 extra services from December 2022, and two trains per hour from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street. New stations to be served include Liverpool South Parkway, Walsall and Gobowen.
Avanti plans to achieve an annual T-3 Target (trains running to time or up to three minutes late) of 72% by 2025-26, and a T-15 target of 95.50% by 2025-26.
The TSSA union criticised the franchise on November 27, the day the brand was launched ( RAIL 893). General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: “The irony of rebranding the West Coast franchise Avanti - Italian for forward - won’t be lost on passengers after more than 20 years of going backwards with Virgin Trains. It’s time to put our passengers first by bringing our railways back into public ownership.”