Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on average, how many daily services does he expect Avanti West Coast to run in (a) August and (b) September.

Avanti West Coast run a seven train per hour timetable which equates to 264 weekday services, 244 on Saturdays, and 202 on Sundays. However, from 24 July to 8 September, Avanti has removed 20 trains a day from its weekday timetable, to enable it to run a more reliable service for its customers, minimising unplanned, short-term cancellations. This is a temporary measure and from 9 September it will return to current levels. The base position is subject to change as Avanti agrees plans to mitigate the impact of strikes and Network Rail engineering works, particularly on weekends.