Avanti to cut dozens of trains from Stoke to London and Manchester

Around 20 trains between Stoke Station and London are to be cancelled every Saturday until the new year, it has emerged.

Avanti West Coast previously revealed it would be slashing the number of trains it runs between Manchester Piccadilly and Euston to two an hour on Saturdays from December 9 until December 31. However, the timetable has already been reduced affecting services to and from Stoke-on-Trent.

The train operator typically runs around 50 services - roughly three an hour at the busiest times - between London and Manchester every weekday with most calling at Stoke. A similar number of services also run on Saturdays, but it is understood this is being reduced to just 30 trains.

Avanti said it is working hard to minimise disruption. The company told the M.E.N ^[1] it is experiencing a number of 'short-notice cancellations' which are 'ongoing and currently under review.' A spokesman blamed them on train crew shortages due to 'historic leave agreements and ongoing industrial disputes.'

READ:Passengers stranded at Stoke Station as train service branded 'truly unacceptable'^[2] Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon was not happy with Avanti after her train to London was cancelled this morning

READ: Trains halted and road shut as truck hits railway bridge ^[3] Engineers and police were called out to City Road in Fenton

A spokesman said: “We have been seeing some short-notice cancellations on Saturdays on our network and would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.

"We know this is not good enough and are working hard to make sure we can minimise these cancellations. These service changes are a result of resourcing challenges where we have seen a shortage of train crew due to historic leave agreements and ongoing industrial disputes."

Stranded passengers at Stoke Station (Image: Jo Gideon/X)

The news comes after Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon branded Avanti's level of service as 'totally unacceptable'^[4] earlier this month. The Tory - who makes regular trips between her base in Bucknall ^[5] and London - pledged to raise the issue with her colleagues in Parliament.

The reduced December timetable has been confirmed but Avanti said it was unable to say how many trains across it network would be cancelled before then.

Last month, after two short-term extensions, the First Group-Trenitalia-run company was awarded a new nine-year contract to run the West Coast Mainline franchise, which also runs services stopping despite having previously been warned to improve its performance.

Announcing the news Transport Secretary Mark Harper declared they were 'back on track.' Train operators must keep cancellations below a certain level to fulfil their contracts, and they can be fined or have their contracts stripped if these levels are not met.

(Image: STOKE SENTINEL)

But if ministers agree to temporarily reduced services - known as "short-term planning arrangements", the cancellations do not appear in official statistics. According to the reports, ministers have now agreed to a similar reduction in service to that in December.

A DfT spokesperson told the M.E.N: “Despite progress since last year, Avanti still needs to further improve and we continue to hold it to account for matters within its control. Traincrew shortages, linked to train drivers on average £60,000 salaries refusing to work overtime, highlight the need for modernisation across the wider railway that is being resisted by unions.

“The temporary timetable changes were necessary to minimise short-notice cancellations due to traincrew shortages and to accommodate engineering works that will maintain and improve the resilience of the network."

A source said much of the recent disruption to Avanti services has been caused by issues outside their control, such as recent poor weather due to Storm Babet, infrastructure faults last month and a broken-down freight train. They added that traincrew shortages, linked to a continued lack of driver overtime, were presenting 'a challenge to running services with the reliability passengers deserve.'

Mick Whelan, general secretary OF aSLEF, the union which represents train drivers, told the BBC ^[6] : "Avanti West Coast is yet again letting passengers, and the taxpayer down.

"The problem is the company does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it is contracted and has promised, to run. Avanti West Coast needs to do the right thing, by staff, by passengers, and by the taxpayer."

References

^{^} M.E.N (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} Passengers stranded at Stoke Station as train service branded 'truly unacceptable' (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Trains halted and road shut as truck hits railway bridge (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon branded Avanti's level of service as 'totally unacceptable' (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Bucknall (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} BBC (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} Sign up to our main daily newsletter here and get all the latest news straight to your inbox for FREE (data.reachplc.com)