Andy Burnham demands Avanti trains ultimatum after passengers hit by months of chaos
manchestereveningnews.co.ukAndy Burnham has urged the Transport Secretary to demand increased Avanti West Coast train services between Manchester and London or remove its operating contract.
In a letter to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the mayor of Greater Manchester said the current situation was having a 'profoundly negative impact on the regional and national economy' - and frustrating 'thousands of passengers and businesses every day'.
Avanti announced a plan last month to restore three trains an hour between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston from December 11, but Mr Burnham said the timetable would mean 'two more months of chaos on the West Coast Mainline in the interim'. READ MORE: 'You don't go from sitting in a pub to being shot dead by police in 10 minutes' He called for the operator to provide a consistent, two trains per hour service by the end of the month. "If 11 December is to be acceptable, Avanti must also commit to providing a consistent two trains per hour service between Manchester and London by end of this month, as a staging post to full restoration of the timetable," wrote the mayor. "Unless this happens and is clearly communicated, train travel between our most important economic regions will continue to be chaotic, forcing people into their cars or into abandoning plans to travel entirely.
Without this commitment, I will be unable to support a new contract for Avanti. "At present, Avanti customers continue to report very poor levels of reliability.
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