Rail services between Manchester and London are to be reduced as the train operator Avanti West Coast blames unofficial strike action”

Labour have urged the Grant Shapps to “wake up and put passengers and the public first” as service cancellations by the operator, Avanti West Coast, caused widespread disruption.

Last week the operator slashed the number of trains connecting London and major cities along the West Coast Mainline to just four per hour, with services cut by two-thirds between London and Manchester.

Avanti West Coast have the lowest passenger satisfaction ratings of any operator, a figure the Transport Minister Baroness Vere has admitted is “terrible”, alongside the largest number of delays and cancellation. It’s contract is due to expire in October.

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has warned her counterpart Grant Shapps he “cannot continue to wash his hands of responsibility, nor reward failure” as the damage to the economy from the decision mounts.

In a letter, she has called on ministers to urgently demand a plan from the operator for the full restoration of services, claw-back taxpayers’ money for services that are not running, and if an urgent plan to restore services is not put in place, she has urged ministers to begin the process of withdrawing the contract.

Commenting, Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh MP said: “This fiasco is causing real damage to the regional economy, passengers and the public.

This hapless government cannot continue to wash their hands of responsibility, nor reward failure without consequences.

It’s time they put passengers first.

They should demand a plan from the operator to urgently restore these services, claw-back taxpayers money being handed over for services that aren’t running, and if the private operator cannot fulfil their contract, they have no business holding it.”

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