The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has said the Conservative Party has 'forfeited the right to govern' and it's 'very hard to see how' Prime Minister Liz Truss will survive.
06.10.2022 - 13:19 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Andy Burnham has urged the Transport Secretary to demand increased Avanti West Coast train services between Manchester and London or remove its operating contract.
In a letter to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the mayor of Greater Manchester said the current situation was having a 'profoundly negative impact on the regional and national economy' - and frustrating 'thousands of passengers and businesses every day'.
Avanti announced a plan last month to restore three trains an hour between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston from December 11, but Mr Burnham said the timetable would mean 'two more months of chaos on the West Coast Mainline in the interim'.
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He called for the operator to provide a consistent, two trains per hour service by the end of the month. "If 11 December is to be acceptable, Avanti must also commit to providing a consistent two trains per hour service between Manchester and London by end of this month, as a staging post to full restoration of the timetable," wrote the mayor.
"Unless this happens and is clearly communicated, train travel between our most important economic regions will continue to be chaotic, forcing people into their cars or into abandoning plans to travel entirely. Without this commitment, I will be unable to support a new contract for Avanti.
"At present, Avanti customers continue to report very poor levels of reliability. Even on the current, massively reduced timetable, trains are still regularly delayed or cancelled at a time when we are told by Avanti that they have more drivers available than ever. I urge your officials to study Avanti’s performance metrics which demonstrate this.
"Passeng
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has said the Conservative Party has 'forfeited the right to govern' and it's 'very hard to see how' Prime Minister Liz Truss will survive.
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