Avanti West Coast

First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company and franchise that operates the West Coast Partnership. The company is owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) but is in the process of being nationalised as part of the abolition of passenger rail franchising in Great Britain; Avanti West Coast routes will be taken over by Great British Railways by October 2027.[3]

Avanti West Coast provides the principal long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. Its services connect six of the largest cities in the UK – London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh – which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18million.

Avanti West Coast began services in December 2019, at which time it inherited 56 high speed electric multiple units and 20 diesel-electric multiple units from Virgin Trains. The 390s underwent major refurbishment between 2021 and 2024, and in 2024 the 221s were replaced with new

History

Background

In November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that the InterCity West Coast franchise, which was held by Virgin Trains from 1997 to 2019, would be superseded by the West Coast Partnership (WCP). The principal change of the WCP was the inclusion of the High Speed 2 (HS2) services, then envisioned to start around 2026.[4] Accordingly, the DfT required that bidders have experience in operating high-speed trains and the associated infrastructure, which led to all tendering parties either being, or partnering with, an existing high-speed operator.[5][6]

In June 2017, the DfT announced that three consortia had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise:[7][8]

In December 2018, the Spanish state-owned company Renfe Operadora joined the MTR-led bid.[9] In April 2019, the incumbent Stagecoach-led bid was disqualified after it had proposed significant changes to the commercial terms, specially in regards to staff pensions.[10][11] Stagecoach disputed its disqualification and launched a legal challenge to have it overturned. On 17 June 2020, the High Court ruled against the company, deciding that the decision had been lawful.[12][13]

In August 2019, the DfT awarded the franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium with Avanti West Coast to commence operations on 8 December 2019.[14][15] The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a merger inquiry into the award of the franchise following a referral from the European Commission.[16][17] In December 2019, the CMA approved the franchise's award; concerns that limited competition on some routes could lead to higher fares and less availability of cheaper tickets were offset by the agreement of price caps to be present in some regions.[18][19]

Avanti West Coast promised retiring diesel Voyager trains by 2022, Wi-Fi improvements, and adding 263 weekly train services. Avanti unveiled their orange triangle logo, representing the three geographic points of the West Coast Main Line. Virgin Trains tickets were accepted as valid fare for another 24 weeks after Saturday, 7 December 2019.[20]

FirstGroup (70%) / Trenitalia (30%)
MTR Corporation (75%) / Guangshen Railway Company (25%)
Stagecoach (50%) / SNCF (30%) / Virgin Group (20%)

Strikes and train cancellations (2022–2024); contract extensions and nationalisation

Services were curtailed in 2020 due to a decline of passenger travel and staffing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.[21][22][23][24][25][26]

The DfT produced an Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) and then in September 2020, an Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement (ERMA), which extended Avanti West Coast's contract until 1 April 2031.[27]

franchise	West Coast Partnership
start year	December 8, 2019
end year	October 18, 2026‡R1R‡
abbr	VT
predecessor	Virgin Trains
regions	Greater London North West England Scotland South East England West Midlands
secregions	East Midlands East of England Wales
stationsop	16‡R2R‡
headquarters	London
routekm	1310 km‡R2R‡
parent company	FirstGroup (70%) Trenitalia (30%)
map	AvantiRouteJune24.jpg

History

Background

Strikes and train cancellations (2022–2024); contract extensions and nationalisation

Services

Routes

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Future fleet

Past fleet

External links

References