Andy Burnham along with Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Luthfur Rahman and Transport Commissioner, Vernon Everitt have met with West Coast train operator Avanti after the Company has cut back trains between Manchester and London blaming unofficial strike action
The Company announced last week that it would reduce the train service from three to just one a hour
Leaders have asked the Company to come up with a recovery plan that helps passengers in the short-term but which also commits to providing more trains per hour between Greater Manchester and London as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile in the short term they asked Avanti to consider the declassification of trains – suspending first class restrictions – to make more seats available on the booking system at an affordable price
and called for much clearer communications with customers about how and when to purchase tickets
Andy Burnham said:
We made clear to them in no uncertain terms our deep unhappiness at the way in which our city-region has been treated.
The severe reduction of services at this time of year is seriously detrimental to our economy. Avanti’s decision to take this action without any prior consultation or even notification shows a lack of respect for our city-region and its people.
