Avanti West Coast Contract Renewal

Lord Tunnicliffe Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tunnicliffe (Lab)]

A cursory look at the coverage in local and regional newspapers across the north-west and West Midlands will tell you that there is seething frustration about Avanti’s ongoing failures and their impact on the travelling public. It also impacts those living in London and rest of the south-east looking to travel to some of our other great cities for work and pleasure. This is therefore a matter of national concern and I hope the Minister will ensure it becomes a bigger priority for her new boss at the department. Will she explain what level of failure the department is waiting for before ending Avanti’s management of the service? It should surely be expected to equal or exceed the performance of the state-owned LNER.