Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Bev Craig have written a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport following timetable disruption on West Coast Mainline services between Manchester and London.
The letter follows yesterday’s announcement by Avanti West Coadt that it was cutting back on services due to what it termed unofficial strike action.
The cuts would see the service between Manchester and London reduced from three to one train an hour
In the letter the leaders state that
The plan to run just four trains an hour from London Euston, with only one service to Manchester, came with no notice nor any consultation beforehand and no date by which the full timetable will be restored. This is completely unacceptable.
Avanti’s severely reduced timetable will damage some of the UK’s largest and most important economic and cultural centres at a critical time in their recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
They add that they are seeking an urgent meeting with you, your officials and Avanti’s management to agree a date for full restoration of the timetable.
“If Avanti is unable to agree a date, or is unable to meet that date once agreed, we would ask that you begin the process of withdrawing the operator’s contract and do not grant it a new National Rail Contract once current arrangements end in October this year.”
