THE Government is being urged to nationalise Avanti West Coast’s rail services after regional transport leaders said its performance has fallen “short of expectation.”

Regional leaders with Transport for the North, which advises the government on issues relating to transport, have voted to formally request the Government terminates the contract that allows the rail firm to run services between London and Scotland.

Long-distance Avanti trains travelling on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow are a regular part of the rail services through Carlisle and Cumbria.

Transport for the North (TfN) – which brings together business leaders and northern local authorities to champion the region's transport needs – issued a statement explaining their loss of confidence in Avanti West Coast.

It confirmed that the latest board meeting for TfN backed a motion to write to the Secretary of State asking for the firm to be taken off the key West Coast Main Line route "at the earliest possible opportunity."

Board members regarded “a continuation of the current situation as unacceptable. The board considered two options: one was to set a target for service improvement by June or face ‘further measures.

The other option was to terminate the contract straight away.

After hearing from Steve Montgomery,  MD of First Rail (the rail division of Avanti majority shareholder FirstGroup, about the poor performance "over many months", the board opted for immediate action. 

Transport for the North will now write to the Secretary of State for Transport, requesting that the Avanti West Coast’s contract should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity.

The group wants the Government to act as an "Operator of Last Resort", taking on responsibility in the short term for the delivery of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line. 

In December, TfN wrote to the Transport Secretary asking him to instruct officials to conduct a critical review into Avanti West Coast’s operation given the deteriorating service, after the operator announced a number of cuts to services over Christmas.

Lord McLoughlin, who chairs Transport for the North, said: “Today’s board was very clear. The performance on the West Coast Main Line by Avanti has been so poor, for so long that action now must be taken.   

“We will be writing statuary advice today to the Secretary of State calling for Avanti to be relieved of its contract. The travelling public deserve a service they can rely on. But Avanti has fallen far too short of expectations for far too long now.” 

A spokesman for FirstGroup said: “Our team at Avanti West Coast, and everyone connected with the train operator, are all working hard with a singular focus on delivering the service that customers expect.

“In recent months the service has been below expectations on some days, for a variety of reasons including driver unavailability due to historic leave policies as well as elevated sickness levels.

"Changing the operator won’t affect these fundamental issues affecting the service, which is why it is vital that we continue working with trade unions with whom we have had recent positive discussions and continue working with government and other stakeholders on our plans to deliver long-term improvements in customer experience, resilience and a new fleet.”