We only have a few weeks left to stop the Department for Transport awarding the failing private train company Avanti a 10-year contract to continue running services on our West Coast Main Line.
Ever since Avanti took over West Coast in December 2019, services have been appalling. Before the pandemic they had the biggest decline in passenger satisfaction of any train company in the UK.
But since Covid began, things have gone from bad to worse. Despite receiving more than £1 billion in public subsidies during this time, Avanti passengers have continued to suffer – with hundreds of delays and cancellations, yet the same extortionate fares (which rose again this March).
Meanwhile the companies that own Avanti – transport multinational FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%), Italy’s state-owned rail operator(!) – are hiving off millions of pounds in profits.
This is madness and needs to stop.
In June 2018, the Department for Transport took our East Coast Main Line back into public ownership, after the private companies running it failed. East Coast services have been successfully-run in the public interest by LNER ever since.
If our East Coast Main Line connecting London and Scotland can be run in public ownership, then our West Coast should be too.
Why is this important?
The Department for Transport is currently deciding whether to award Avanti a new 10-year contract to continue running services on our West Coast Main Line until 2032. They are due to make a final decision by 1 April 2023.
This has to be stopped.
Let’s not reward failure. Let’s make our West Coast public instead.
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References:
• 20 August 2021, 'West Coast Partnership: prior information notice', Department for Transport
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/west-coast-partnership-prior-information-notice
• 2 July 2020, 'National Rail Passenger Survey Spring 2020', Transport Focus
https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/publication/national-rail-passenger-survey-nrps-spring-2020-main-report
• 21 October 2021, 'Details of operational support payments to franchised passenger rail operators under emergency agreements and National Rail Contracts', Department for Transport
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements/details-of-operational-support-payments-to-franchised-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements
• 6 January 2022, 'Rail prices to rise by the largest amount in nearly a decade', Money Saving Expert
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/12/train-fares-rail-increase-march
• 4 January 2022, 'Rail firms gave £38m to shareholders after being bailed out by taxpayer during Covid lockdowns', Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10366385/Rail-firms-gave-38m-shareholders-bailed-taxpayer-Covid.html
How it will be delivered
We plan to hand this petition to Mark Harper MP on Monday 20 March 2023, 10am at the Department for Transport, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR