Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies met last week with the now former Transport Secretary, Kevin Foster MP, to discuss the recent renewal of Avanti West Coast’s contract, and in Parliament on Tuesday called for assurances that the company will resume normal services to and from North Wales by December.
Avanti West Coast has been given until April 1 next year to improve its services following a reduction of its trains in the summer.
Former Transport Minister Kevin Foster MP said the six-month extension provides a “clear opportunity” for Avanti to improve its services to the “standard we and the public expect”.
Last week James met with the Minister to discuss his concerns regarding the poor service the company is providing, and the problems this is causing for North Wales rail users.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday he raised the matter again and asked the Minister what assurances he has received from the company that normal services will resume from December.
He said:
“I am grateful to the Minister for meeting me a week ago today to discuss Avanti West Coast services to North Wales. He knows that those remain abysmal.
“Whereas there are normally six direct services a day, there is now just one, if it is not cancelled. What assurances has he received from the company that it will able to return to near normality by December, as promised?”
The Minister replied:
“The assurances that Avanti is giving are that its plans for December will restore the majority of direct services into North Wales. DFT officials are engaging daily with Avanti, because we do not just want to accept an assurance that the service will be better. Clearly, we want to have verified plans for it to be better.”
The Minister also told the Commons: “The Government will then consider Avanti’s performance while finalising a national rail contract for consideration in relation to the route alongside preparations by the Operator of Last Resort for if it becomes necessary for them to step in at the end of the extension period.”
Commenting afterwards, James said:
“Before Avanti’s contract was renewed, I, along will my fellow North Wales Conservatives MPs, called on the UK Government to strip Avanti West Coast of its franchise in the region given its appalling service.
“Instead, it was decided to renew their contract for a six-month period, with a warning that long-term contract award decisions will be affected if, as the six-month period comes to an end, the service day to day is not where it should be.
“Given the impact of these infrequent and unreliable Avanti services on my constituents, I will be monitoring the situation very closely over the forthcoming weeks, and if the promised improvements are not delivered by December, I will be pursuing the matter with the new Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper.”
Avanti West Coast services also came under scrutiny at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham at a fringe event Chaired by James.
At the event, titled ‘Transforming the England – Wales Cross-border Economy with Transport and Low Carbon Investment’, which the former Transport Minister spoke at, James, who is Chair of the Mersey Dee North Wales All-Party Parliamentary Group which has actively pushed for infrastructure upgrades locally, said that investing in rail is one of the best ways to boost regional productivity, create employment opportunities and address the need to hit our Net Zero Carbon target.
He also again highlighted the problems rail users are facing because of Avanti’s reduced, and regularly cancelled services.
