Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contractual requirements he has placed on the Avanti West Coast train company on the restoration of the frequency of direct train services linking North Wales, Chester and London Euston; and what penalties will be imposed in the event of that operator failing to meet those standards.

Avanti West Coast (AWC) shared its recovery plan for the restoration of services prior to the short-term contract extension announced on 7 October. Both the Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail reviewed this plan and were supportive of the proposition, noting its full and successful delivery required trade union co-operation. The Department is monitoring AWC’s delivery, holding it to account as appropriate, and will use all due legal and contractual processes to take action, if any is appropriate to take.

On 11 December, Avanti West Coast implemented a timetable that restored the majority of pre-pandemic direct services between North Wales and London via Chester.