Reports of passengers caught up in 'dangerous stampedes' for Manchester-bound trains at London Euston have been revealed by Andy Burnham as he issued operator Avanti West Coast with an ultimatum over its controversial new timetable.
After a meeting with Avanti on Thursday, the mayor of Greater Manchester said unless bosses reveal a plan for the restoration of London-Manchester services 'by the end of next week at the very latest', he would call on the Prime Minister to strip the company of its contract.
Avanti announced earlier this month that it was cutting the number of trains between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly from one every 20 minutes to one an hour 'until further notice' - with the Manchester Evening News going on to reveal complaints from passengers of 'disruption every single week'.
Mr Burnham said the reduced timetable was introduced by Avanti 'to provide greater certainty to passengers', but it had 'comprehensively failed'. He said he's personally witnessed 'chaos' and passenger 'stress' over double-booked seats, and revealed commuters have criticised the firm's website for being 'slow' to release tickets and for 'pushing' passengers towards more expensive options.
Avanti West Coast - the brand name for a partnership between Aberdeen-based transport company FirstGroup and Italian firm Trenitalia - have run services on the West Coast Main Line route from December 2019 after the demise of Virgin Trains. The 400-mile train network links London with towns and cities across England, north Wales and Scotland.
In a statement released on Friday, Mr Burnham said he was 'expecting' Avanti to present him with a plan at the meeting, but was disappointed that didn't happen.
Avanti, which is also only allowing tickets to be purchased a few days in advance, said it had taken the action to 'ensure a reliable service' as the 'current industrial relations climate' has resulted in 'severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels, as well as unofficial strike action by Aslef members'.
Rejecting the company's position, the train drivers union said the operator had long been relying on train staff working on rest days to run services.
In his statement, Mr Burnham also hit out at 'leaking roofs and broken cafe facilities'.
He said: "Avanti West Coast introduced its reduced timetable between Manchester and London to provide 'greater certainty' to passengers. On that test alone, it has comprehensively failed. This week, I have witnessed chaos on trains and passengers in stressful situations as they arrive at seats that have been double-booked. I have heard reports of dangerous stampedes at London Euston as people clamour to get on the Manchester trains.
"And passengers are contacting me to complain that the Avanti website is slow to release tickets for sale and pushes people towards more expensive options like open returns or buying two singles. Even today, tickets for travel on Bank Holiday Monday have not been released.
"People pay sky-high prices to travel on Avanti West Coast trains and I made it crystal clear to the company when I met them yesterday - Thursday - that none of the above is good enough. The only thing that will bring greater certainty is the running of more trains and the restoration of the full Manchester to London timetable.
"I was expecting Avanti to present me with a plan at yesterday's meeting for when trains will be re-introduced. It is disappointing to say the least that they were unable to do so. I have now asked for that plan by the end of next week at the very latest. If they fail to provide it, or if it fails to restore our full level of service within a reasonable timescale, I will ask the new Prime Minister to remove their contract."
Mr Burnham said he would issue a further statement on hearing the company's response.
"In the meantime, I have asked Avanti West Coast to improve the provision of early information to passengers, particularly over this Bank Holiday weekend; release seats on trains earlier so people can book further in advance and address on-board maintenance issues such as leaking roofs and broken café facilities," he added.
"Finally, I have made it clear that anyone who has been seriously inconvenienced by this mismanagement - or forced to pay over the odds to travel - should receive commensurate compensation from the company."
A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: "Our follow up meeting with the Mayor of Greater Manchester was another opportunity to explain why we took this difficult decision to reduce our timetable as well as update them on our plans for the coming weeks for the service. We have reduced our timetable to ensure a reliable service is delivered so our customers can travel with greater certainty.
"This decision was not taken lightly – but was necessary due to the ongoing industrial action which has seen drivers no longer willing to work overtime. Although we have a sufficient number of drivers (595, more than in 2019), like all operators, we rely on overtime to operate our full timetable and to maintain our training of drivers.
"When the pandemic took hold, aside from the volume of services being run each day, driver training was the next most impacted part of the business. It was suspended entirely in March 2020 which has seen a backlog of trained drivers. Training has now fully resumed, but we need drivers to work overtime to make up for those on training.
"To improve the situation, we need to continue this training of more drivers, or see a return of current drivers on the overtime they have historically worked. We would urge the rail unions to engage in meaningful industry reform discussions around modernising working practices and developing a railway fit for the 21st century and we look forward to further talks to resolve this situation.
"We value feedback from all our national, regional and local stakeholders, and remain willing to meet the range of stakeholders to help inform our decisions. We are focused on delivering the best outcomes for our all of our passengers across our UK-wide network, as well as improving goodwill with our colleagues by working with them collaboratively to develop our plans.
"We understand and apologise for the enormous frustration and inconvenience felt by our customers at the moment. We remain committed to delivering the best possible service for our customers and the regions we serve. We would advise customers to check our website before they travel."
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