The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating
6th September 2022 | News / Petition
The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating.
On 14 August 2022, Avanti – part-owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia (Italy’s state-owned rail operator!) – drastically reduced the timetable on our West Coast Main Line.
Avanti is now running less than half of the usual services between London and our big north western cities: Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Carlisle, Glasgow and more.
On 2 September, Avanti’s £273,000-per-year boss Phil Whittingham announced he was leaving to “pursue other executive leadership opportunities”.
The company is in total disarray.
Meanwhile, on 4 September it was reported that the Department for Transport (DfT) is still planning to renew Avanti’s contract (which expires on 16 October) for another 10-years.
This is not any old rail contract either – it’s the so-called ‘West Coast Partnership’, which could see useless profiteers Avanti handed the keys to run the first services on our new HS2 line that will have been built with close to £100 billion of public money.
This must be stopped. Today our lawyers written to the DfT to demand they take these concerns seriously and act urgently to bring our West Coast Main Line back into public ownership (like LNER, Northern and Southeastern already are).
Please help keep the pressure up by signing our petition and sharing details on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
There’s still time to make Great British Railways. . . great!
2nd August 2022 | News
Did you know that the UK Government is now consulting on the biggest legislative changes to our railways since the disastrous Railways Act 1993, which created privatisation? The deadline is this Thursday 4 August, 11:45pm.
They’ve done their best to keep this consultation hidden – rushing it through in just eight weeks over the summer. But this is a great opportunity to make the case for greater public ownership of rail – enabling direct awards to our publicly-owned operator, which currently runs LNER, Northern and Southeastern – to reduce fragmentation and ensure more of our railways are run in the public interest.
Please take time this week to respond to the consultation. Together with our friends at We Own It we’ve put together a handy guide.
New petition to make our West Coast Main Line public
21st February 2022 | News / Petition
Today we’re launching a new petition to Make West Coast Public. If our East Coast Main Line can be run in public ownership, then our West Coast should be too.
Please help us make a big impact over the next month, by sharing details with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Legal action to take Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern back into public hands
27th January 2022 | News
Today we’re launching legal action against the Department for Transport to stop them awarding the disgraced private company Govia a six-year contract to continue running rail services on Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern. Together these form Britain’s biggest rail franchise (known as TSGN), which has been dogged by problems since Govia first took over operations in 2015.
What’s more, the companies that own Govia – the Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) – are currently under investigation for alleged serious and long-standing fraud on their other neighbouring rail franchise, Southeastern.
The situation on Southeastern became so bad, that the Department for Transport took action to bring it back into public ownership in October 2021.
If Southeastern can be brought back into public ownership, then Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern should be too!
This would provide much better value for money, and be more transparent and accountable to the public. In the long-term, it would also enable us to deliver a re-unified and integrated commuter railway – improving connections with Transport for London and across the SouthEast.
If you’d like to help us #TakeBackTSGN, then please make a pledge on our CrowdJustice page.
We’re kickstarting this case with the funds left over from our successful legal action to make the East Coast mainline public in 2018.
We’re looking for further contributions from supporters to help us meet our £20,000 target before the deadline on 23 February 2022.
Our Lawyers’ Correspondence
• 1 February 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 11 February 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 16 February 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 2 March 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 22 March 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 25 March 2022: Devonshires to Serious Fraud Office
• 31 March 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 7 April 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
Freedom of Information Requests
• 25 January 2022: Department for Transport to Bring Back British Rail
• 4 February 2022: Department for Transport to Association of British Commuters
Media Coverage
• 27 January 2022, ‘New legal campaign to take Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern into public ownership’, Association of British Commuters
• 27 January 2022, ‘Commuters start legal case to re-nationalise Southern Rail’, Inside Croydon
• 3 February 2022, ‘Government faces legal threat over Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern Rail’, ITV News
• 10 February 2022, ‘Details of Go-Ahead rail scandal kept secret’, The Times
• 14 February 2022, ‘Department for Transport hides scandalous report on Go-Ahead fraud investigation’, Association of British Commuters
• 24 February 2022, ‘Dramatic increase to £80m in cost of Southeastern train accounting scandal’, The Guardian
• 24 February 2022, ‘£81.3m fine strengthens case against Southern’s new franchise’, Inside Croydon
• 28 February 2022, Fifteen years of fraud: allegations against The Go-Ahead Group have doubled in scale, Association of British Commuters
• 22 March 2022, Govia Ltd: the biggest rail corruption scandal since privatisation, Association of British Commuters
• 22 March 2022, Government is about to let #SouthernFail off the hook again, Inside Croydon
• 7 April 2022, The Rail Privatisation Scam, Tribune
Christmas 2021 Merch
5th December 2021 | Merchandise / News
Looking for some Christmas gift ideas? ??
All proceeds from Bring Back British Rail merch sales go towards funding campaign materials and activities. Order online by end Thursday 16 December 2021 to receive in time for Christmas ?
Great British Railways Debate
20th May 2021 | Media Coverage / News
On the day Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched the long-awaited Williams Rail Review, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited on BBC 2’s Jeremy Vine programme to debate the pros and cons of the ‘Great British Railways‘ proposal with Pete Waterman.
ScotRail Re-nationalised!
17th March 2021 | News / Petition
Today Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson finally announced that the ScotRail franchise will be brought back into public ownership from 1 April 2022, when Abellio’s contract ends.
Thanks to everyone who signed our Make ScotRail Public petition, first launched the day after the Independence Referendum in September 2014. It has been a long fight, but we did it! Please share the good news on Facebook and Twitter.
Scrap the fare hikes – we need public ownership now
1st March 2021 | News
Today the UK Government hikes rail fares in England and Wales by 2.6% – the first above inflation increase for seven years.
Meanwhile, they are busy trying to negotiate new ‘National Rail Contracts’ with a host of failed private train operating companies, which could lock us into this broken privatised system for decades to come.
Bringing all rail franchises back into public ownership would be simple, with the publicly-owned ‘Operator of Last Resort’ – which already runs LNER and Northern – ready to go. This could immediately enable fare cuts of 5%, and would ensure that our railways can be run in the interests of passengers and the environment to help get our country moving again as we emerge from the pandemic.
Please take action today by writing to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Scrap the fare hikes
End the contract chaos
We need public ownership now
Transport for Wales Rail re-nationalised!
7th February 2021 | News
Today we celebrate the Wales & Borders franchise being brought back into public ownership by the Welsh Government, following 25 years of failed privatisation. Announcing the move on 22 October 2020, the Welsh Minister for Transport Ken Skates MS said this would provide the “most stable financial base to manage rail services as we emerge from the pandemic”.
The Welsh Government must have been listening to our #TakeBackOurTrains campaign. We have been saying since the start of this crisis, that returning rail to public ownership is the only sensible response – to prioritise safety, save public money and help improve services in the long-term. As Ken Skates went on to say: “a new publicly owned model… will allow [Transport for Wales] to continue to put customers and communities at the heart of everything they do, with safety as their first priority”.
Now the Scottish Government and the UK’s Department for Transport must stop bailing out the failing private rail companies running Britain’s other rail franchises and follow Wales’ lead.
Take Back Our Trains interview
25th June 2020 | Media Coverage / News
As a result of our #TakeBackOurTrains campaign, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited onto talkRADIO to discuss with Ian Collins how we can use the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to build back a better railway that is run in passengers’ interests.
Welcome Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP as Transport Secretary 👋 First item in your in-tray: the crisis on Avanti West Coast 🚆 There is no justification for awarding this failing private train company at 10-year contract extension. London North Eastern Railway is performing well, so it's time to #makewestcoastpublic too 👇 ... See MoreSee Less
Bring our West Coast rail services back into public ownership
you.38degrees.org.uk
I've just signed the petition to bring West Coast rail services back into public ownership. Join me here: you.38degrees.org.uk/org/petitions/bring-our-west-coast-rail-services-back-into-public...Comment on Facebook
First item, cancel HS2 as per Lord Berkeley's well thought out and costed alternative(s).
please put transpennie express back into public ownership service over the last year is shocking and still nothing being done lost all faith and confidence in them
All our rail network, plus gas, electric and water should all be in public ownership.
Take all First Group franchises away from them, and if you're not prepared to bring them back into public ownership, at least let Stagecoach back in (but not Virgin) - they at least managed to show a fair degree of competence most of the time.
I wouldn’t welcome her
No. British Rail was racist............https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asquith_Xavier
Agree bring back British Rail
Public companies do not give hand outs to the Tory party.
Re Nationalise the lot, look what happened on the East Coast line. Brought back under public ownership, made millions in profits, this shower privatised it again, makes a loss so they increase the fares ??
This woman could talk all day and not say anything! 🥱
Tony Pearce yes under funded and run down. How come, three nationalised railway companies can manage to run franchises in this country and be profitable. Simple, they are heavily subsidised, they only run the profitable part of the business. Network rail does the expensive maintenance part. Even so the various franchises still struggle to make profits, when subsidised and once in a while, just dump it and run with the money.
Another Tory who wont have a clue
Definitely. If you saw the representative after PMQs deforestation trying to blame rail strikes, covid and labour support for the disasters, looks as though they're getting on the defensive.
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The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating 🚆 Today our lawyers have written to the Department for Transport to demand they act urgently to bring our West Coast Main Line back into public ownership. Find out more and sign our petition here 👇 ... See MoreSee Less
The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating – Bring Back British Rail
www.bringbackbritishrail.org
The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating. Sign the Petition On 14 August 2022, Avanti – part-owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia (Italy’s state-owned rail operator!) – drastically reduced th...Comment on Facebook
No thank you, we remember all too well what British Rail was like under public ownership and if people think the current strikes are inconvenient they are nothing compared to how it was then.Anything publicly owned that doesn't need to make a profit doesn't only losses. Bring on driverless trains etc and it might be worth considering!!
The problem at the moment is this company are treating there employees terribly. They are saying that they are offering I think a 5% payrise and in reality it is less than 2% Then asking them to sign and change their contracts work more weekends on a lesser rate than what they are on now!! But they will always portray that the workers and unions are being greedy and unreasonable. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The railways should be run for the benefit of the passengers not the unions. However they must be paid properly for a full 7 day timetable. I think a ring fenced not for profit enterprise with profits going back into infrastructure etc not to shareholders or foreign government rail services.
The DfT is calling the shots and they are quite deliberately running the railways down, cutting services along the way. Be ready for station and then line closures coming soon. People need to understand this quickly before they do any more damage.
Ownership is irrelevant at the moment - the Operator of Last Resort has said that it couldn't fix the problems either unless DfT gets the pay deals done and Avanti - or whoever operates the service - is allowed to recruit a lot more drivers. As long as the Government carries on with the practice - ALSO USED BY BRITISH RAIL (note please) - of relying on overtime to cover enough duties then the railway will always be vulnerable. BR or whatever would be subject to the same rules... The crisis is "escalating" because of Government interference - there would just be more if BR was recreated.
The rail workers and unions seem to run the railways when they want. The whole rail network is a mess and needs total over haul in running it to actually suit and help the travellers for a reliability and more affordable service to be proud off. Fill the trains and drop prices to encouurage commuters to use regular.
The unions are killing the railway, they can’t pay higher wages if they have no revenue. Strike no train no money simple
They took this franchise off Virgin who ran it without incident because Branson wouldn't back the Tories and gave it to a company that only has its shareholders benefits in mind
I worked for British rail before and after it was privatised . The 1st day no trains ran at all . Typical, tories they buggered up everything
Everything is buggered up,due to successive governments.and the government we have now is the worst I’ve ever known,what a future our grandchildren have to face 😡😡😡
its too late the railway is on it arse its worse tahn its ever been thacher killed the railway and britain just my opinion a s rail user since th e80s sadly times change and the greedy shareholders and ceos killed it off
Nick Dzydza They allowed most incompetent outsiders to run a railway. Stagecoach for example, soon after being awarded the franchise took this inept decision to impose redundancy pay packages on 70 train drivers. This caused so many cancellation of services.
NEVER BRING BACK BRITISH RAIL. for those of you too young to know, it was awful. That's why the system was privatised. No investment, strike now are nothing compared to then. A truly cash starved run down system......everything was always under the threat of closure...yes, under rose tinted glasses we loved the locos and rolling stock,, but it was getting old.....keep it private
The logical thing is nationlise it The tory thing is nationlise is with public money then sell it off cheap Sir keir needs to rethink his policy on nationlisation
British Rail was actually pretty good given the various governments attitudes. Roads get billions without question and no increase in road tax to cover it but rail passengers must make a large contribution to any improvements. Ownership is irrelevant if people don't want to work on the Railway. Avanti have taken a rational approach here. How many moaners actually use them.
Everyone knows if people are paid and treated right positive outcomes follow. Decent basic rate Monday to Friday time and a half on Saturdays and double time Sundays and those who value time at home can and those who want to earn more can the options are there for everyone. Work life balance for all not just for the few.
A better idea would be to give it back to Virgin who did a brilliant job and ran a great service. I remember the railways when they were publicly owned and they were pretty bad (and I am being kind there!)
Public ownership only worked badly at times because they put useless ex ministers in charge!!
Lack of drivers can only be very poor operating managements forward planning (or lack of)
The fact that since second World War the railways have been starved of money. Under all governments. The reterick that the Tories gave was BR bloody rubbish well that wasn't true BR staff worked hard to keep trains running. As do the staff now. It's those who make millions out of these franchises. Money from government should have stopped years ago, yet millions still being payed.
No thanks it was run badly before under British rail. They was even more late and filthy then they are now. Staff has the attitude of a stroppy teenager if you asked them a question. No thanks British public ownership in transport and utilities does not work. It works in other countries as they have different cultures then we have.
The Government probably couldn't afford renationalisation. They could take over the franchise's as they expired but would still need to hire the rolling stock which is privately owned and leased to the operators . Then there are the Rail Freight hauliers which are 100% privately owned so would need to be purchased outright.
Be careful what you wish for I recall nationalised industries in the uk . Always on strike and service was terrible .
Avanti need to go I should have been travelling today to Preston and not for the first time it was cancelled I'm fed up with them when Virgin had the service there were no problems and you could get cheap tickets
The problem is even if they took the franchise off Avanti & handed it to the operator of last resort they have said due to the sheer shortage of drivers even they couldn't salvage the service
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&Avanti West Coast Coast is in the last chance saloon” says Greater ManchAndy BurnhamAndy Burnham 🚉 Let's seize this opp#makewestcoastpublictCoastPublic 👇 Sign our petition 👇
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Comment on Facebook
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/03/avanti-west-coast-in-last-chance-saloon-after-failures-sa...
Bring back all companies. Let the UK run it’s businesses and plough profits back in, not into shareholders pockets.
we've had to cancel our trip to the lakes this year due to the incompetence of this company they managed to pay their shareholders £11 million but can't even provide a train service
Please don't do that to railway users. When last nationalised the service was so poor more and more travellers took to the road. Following privatisation, rail use has increased. Don't penalise success but hold the successful to account more effectively. Shareholders take risks when investing, why should tax payers? We are risk heavy already. Please help a rail traveller...well, all of us.
What about mick lynch and the unions run it. They seem to be experts. They could use and the union money and railworkers pension funds to buy the franchise. Then with their Great skills and business knowledge they could make all the rmt members incredibly rich with all the profits and customers would be over the moon with the efficient and reliable services they would provide !!
And yet they find the time and money to paint a whole traine in PRIDE colours,..........what relevance is that to running a railway company.........they should focus on the job in hand..........never mind the gimmicks.
Take back the power
At least with British Rail you had decent comfortable trains, Privatisation has just brought cheap tacky trains, some only 2 coaches on a 4 hour route....and a 2 coach train will generally have only one toilet........I wouldn't call that very civilised.
Some drivers would work 12 hours a day 7 days a week I suppose on that much money they now vote Tory🤪 But when an imbecile like Shapps is unable to grasp what Rest Day means there is not much chance. I was unfortunate enough to work for a company that paid flat rate for rest day and Sunday working but I wouldn't work other than my rostered work.
The trouble us we need a trustworthy government and j don't think they have been born yet. 🤨
Well, my bags packed behind the door waiting for the call. I will be there!
Rumour is they will hand back the keys tomorrow… 🙏🙏
British Rail???? It was awful, delays were commonplace trains were in a worse condition. Be thankful for what you've got.
Ownership is not relevant if nobody wants to work on the Railway. Staff shortages don't respect that it's state owned.
I travelled earlier on the 8.00 from Preston to Euston. My god. How the 1st class facilities have dropped. Tables used to have knives and forks on the tables. Greeted by an empty table. What a come down. Bring back Virgin. The service took some beating. Both dining & presentation wise. Avanti. Forward. Backwards more like. 🤬🤬🤬
I guess most of those campaigning for Public ownership of Trains and Utilities are too young to know how bad things were.
Anything involving First Group ends in an utter shitshow. The withdrawal of their "winning" bid to run West Coast on the previous round of bidding showed doubt even with the DFt. They can hide their toxic brand behind "Avanti West Coast", "Transpennine Express" etc, but the fact they're involved always result in chaos. The proposed investment on the Transpennine routes is ill judged so long as First are involved, their operation has been completely dysfunctional and atrociously unreliable.
It's Ok most franchises have been in government ownership for a while the foreign train operators are.now on a risk free management fee. Privatisation all worked out so well for the foreign owners just like energy and water. So odd only the British financial services companies got into rail.
Government run will mean it will be run to the will of the bean counters in Whitehall. Need to cut back on expenditure so will cut services . Temporary somehow becomes pernambuco. . Somehow cannot see Chiltern still running to brum from London in the new thought after british railways. Why pay for two when one will do. Also hs2 will have all traffic sent on to it at expense of other routes. All happened before and do not think it will change.
This says it all !! The people who want to make it public and put “Bring Back British Rail” on the image have put the British Rail insignia backward. Reminiscent of the service quality when it was BR. Virgin was a revelation when they took over the West Coast line - who knows why they lost the franchise
What about the lease companies, Angel and Porterbrook that bought the trains from the government for nothing and rent them back to the current operators. I don't blame them but they will have to be bought back 😭??
No! have a compulsory vote for all members of all unions and civil servant & look at all their perks free family travel,job and a great pension for life.
Take all Railway companies and Sack the CEO's and put all the profits back into the Government/ Railway then it would be British Rail not this Crap the Great British Rail More Money going to the rail companies
I can book travel to London from Manchester anytime for the next 3 months, so long as I travel to Sheffield first and go that way. Privatised railways don't work, time to admit defeat and bring it back in to public ownership.
You don't need to bring back British Rail or renationalise just bring back Virgin Trains their service was great
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Incompetent Avanti West Coast has cut our West Coast mainline timetable to the bone! 🚉 Meanwhile Grant Shapps is planning to award them a new 10 year contract? Let's not reward failure. It's time to #makewestcoastpublic! Sign our Petition 👇
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Controversy as Avanti West Coast announces timetable cuts
www.railwaygazette.com
UK: Avanti West Coast has triggered considerable anger amongst trade unions with its use of the phrase 'unofficial strike action' to describe the refusal of staff to work on their rest days.Comment on Facebook
They are cutting the timetable because they rely on overtime to maintain the service due to driver shortages and Shapps doesn’t want drivers to recoup their strike day losses by working overtime. Therefore the public suffer and the timetable is sacrificed.
They must be spending huge amount on refurbishing the Pongolino trains.
Shapps is the Idiots Idiot and doesn't know his brief
Private or not there is a shortage of trained drivers
Privatise the gains and let the public carry the risk !!! A warped Tory philosophy. All contracts to be taken back into Public Ownership once they've finished.
Grant shapps wants to ban overtime for strikers while simultaneously getting angry at staff for not working overtime. Absolutely clueless about his own job.
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Sign the petition to stop the Department for Transport awarding the failing private company Avanti West Coast a new 10-year contract to run rail services on our West Coast Main Line until October 2032!🚉 Let’s not reward failure. #makewestcoastpublictCoastPublic 👇Sign here 👇
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Bring our West Coast rail services back into public ownership
you.38degrees.org.uk
I've just signed the petition to bring West Coast rail services back into public ownership. Join me here: you.38degrees.org.uk/org/petitions/bring-our-west-coast-rail-services-back-into-public...Comment on Facebook
The answer to skyrocketing bills is not 'handouts" it is time to take energy (along with water and rail) into state ownership. #Wehavebeenrippedoffforlongenough.
I thought that once the franchise ran out , they were taking them back in house as Great British Railways. yet another tory government con
Avanti West Coast is not a private Co but part of the Italian state railways or the FS,so it is a state owend company just not the British state.
The bosses at Avanti are on the take again www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/train-firm-chief-awarded-1million-27786248
10 more years..... Isn't great British railways supposed to be taking over next year????
Make the whole network publicly owned again
We need public consultations on rolling stock design, as these coaches vestibles have no air con, fill up, narrow gangways and inaccessible trains for mass audience participation.
Julia Taylor
As if they replaced the only good private train company (virgin) with this shower of shite 😡
They must have crossed someone's palm with you know what.
They came in with all hotter air of promises now look at the mess they made. Just like the east coast with different companies who failed. Hasn't government realise they are putting more money in now than it did before the privatisation of the railways. I've said it many times before 1923 they realise the mess of the railways and they tried to do something. John Major when privatisation there are ways he took the railways so far back we had more railway companies at one point then we had before 1923 . The managers who did the buyouts they're the ones who made the big money . The private companies have made money. Its when they realise they have to put money into it as well as take it out of it they don't want to know.
Signed and shared.
They are barely running a service in normal days.Let alone strike days.Then they are suspending ticket sales.So should people get on one of their trains without a ticket?Then use the excuse you refused to sell me one but I have to make this journey?
You’re looking for 7000 signatures? What good is that? You need a million at least. But signed anyway.
Signed.
Well, they've chosen to go ahead with a programme to refurbish the Pendolinos.
All crook's
Signed and shared
#BringBackBritishRail
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