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RAIL unions have slammed Avanti West Coast for slashing its services in the run-up to Christmas – and blaming staff asking for holidays.
TSSA called it a “specialist in failure” for running only two trains a hour between London and Manchester on Saturdays in December.
Aslef said the move by Britain’s least punctual operator was a “shameful gift” to passengers.
It comes after the RMT union said it was “a travesty” that ministers had awarded Avanti a long-term contract to keep running inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line last month.
TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “Just weeks after Sunak announced that he was scrapping the Manchester leg of HS2, passengers in the north of England are once again getting a second-class service.
“We need our railways in public ownership.”
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “The consistent failures by Avanti West Coast mean it should be nowhere near our railway network.”
A spokesman for Avanti West Coast said: “From December 9 to December 31 we will be removing a small number of services from our timetable, to enable us to run a more reliable service for our customers, and minimise unplanned, short-notice cancellations. This is a temporary measure and we’re sorry for any inconvenience to our customers.”
