Avanti West Coast to cut one in seven trains on its busiest intercity routes

Avanti West Coast is to cut about one in seven trains on its busiest intercity routes this summer to reduce costs. The train operator said it was reducing its timetable between London Euston and Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester in response to a government request to lower spending. It normally runs 248 daily services on the affected routes, and will remove 38 weekday trains from the timetable during the summer months when demand is lower. The Department for Transport (DfT), led by the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander , has approved the revised timetable, which will take effect from 20 July. The affected trains will be removed from the schedules before becoming available for advance ticket purchases online. The threatened 7.00am Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston fast service, reinstated after an uproar in December, will remain running. The government has been looking to reduce the overall spend on rail, with annual net funding having remained at about £12bn in the years since the Covid pandemic. Avanti said the “demand-led timetabling” would only affect routes where there were alternative trains to cause minimal disruption, and should not reduce revenue. The operator, which runs fast intercity trains between London and Glasgow on the west coast mainline, has by some distance the worst punctuality record in national rail, according to the latest statistics from the Office of Rail and Road. …