New era as Avanti begins running West Coast Main Line services
A new era began for West Coast Main Line train services this morning as Avanti completed its first journey from London Euston to Manchester.
Avanti, the franchise managed by the partnership of Aberdee’s FirstGroup and Italy’s Trenitalia, has taken over from Virgin Trains, which has run the line since 1997.
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Virgin’s last ever journey, from London to Wolverhampton, pulled out of Euston station at 21:42.
The maiden voyage of the new franchise left London at 8:10 this morning and reached its destination three minutes late, according to National Rail.
The decision to award the running of the line to the joint venture came after Virgin and partner Stagecoach were banned from bidding due to a dispute over train workers’ future pension liabilities.
The two are currently locked in a legal challenge over the award of the contract to First.
At the end of November First announced that it had lured the boss of Virgin Trains away from the incumbent, just in time to take over the new franchise’s operations.
Phil Whittingham, who has been at Virgin since it took control of the country’s most lucrative rail network in 1998, will keep running the line, which connects London to Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
Whittingham has been Virgin Trains’ managing director since 2013. He will join First with his entire management team from Virgin.
Customers who had booked tickets with Virgin for future journeys will find that they are valid on Avanti services, the new operator said.
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It added that it had a number of passenger upgrades lined up, including 263 more weekly services by 2022, when 23 new trains will be added to the service.
Those 56 Pendolino trains currently in service will face a total refurbishment, resulting in 25,000 more seats, better wi-fi and higher quality catering.