Avanti West Coast boss to step down

The managing director of under-fire rail firm Avanti West Coast is stepping down, the company has announced.

A statement from the train operator said Phil Whittingham would leave his role on 15 September to pursue "other executive leadership opportunities".

It comes after the company faced criticism for reducing timetables on its services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.

It previously ran three services an hour between the two cities

Avanti West Coast has blamed the slashing of its timetable to one service an hour on "severe" staffing shortages.

It said members of the train drivers' union Aslef were refusing to work overtime, although the union has disputed this..

First Rail boss Steve Montgomery, who will now provide executive leadership support to Avanti West Coast, said: "Having led the team through the challenges presented by the pandemic over the last two years and into the recovery period, Phil leaves with the team ready for the challenges in delivering the future service requirements.

"I would like to thank Phil and wish him well in the future."

In a previous letter to the rail industry explaining the timetable change, Mr Whittingham said the "current industrial relations climate" had resulted in "severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels, as well as unofficial strike action by Aslef members".

Avanti West Coast said it currently had more drivers than before the pandemic but relied on staff working overtime in order to run a full timetable and keep up with training.

In a statement, Avanti apologised to customers for the "enormous frustration and inconvenience" caused by the reduced timetable.

A spokesman said: "Our customers and communities deserve a dependable train service, so we're currently working hard to rebuild our timetable in a resilient and sustainable way.

"Resolving this situation requires a robust plan that will allow us to gradually increase services without being reliant on traincrew overtime, which has fallen dramatically in recent weeks."

The labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has threatened to call for the company to be stripped of the franchise unless it produces a plan to restore full services.

"When we receive Avanti's plan, we will consider whether it is acceptable for our residents and businesses and, if it isn't, we made clear to the company that we will ask the new prime minister to strip them of this contract," he said in a statement on 18 August.

He has not yet responded to news of Mr Whittingham's departure, but has called the situation with the timetable as "chaotic", with "stories of dangerous stampedes at London Euston".

Mr Burnham has also criticised ticket sales, saying passengers cannot buy tickets very far in advance, and are often pushed to higher priced, less flexible tickets.

Having now received the company's response, Mr Burnham said he would make a further statement on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "People deserve certainty and confidence that their train will run on time, and while the change of schedule was unavoidable, it should minimise the fallout for passengers.

"This is a prime example of why we need to modernise our railways, so passengers benefit from reliable timetables that don't rely on the goodwill of drivers volunteering to work overtime in the first place."

On Wednesday, Aslef said its members at 12 operators - including Avanti West Coast - would take industrial action on 15 September.

Separately, the RMT union has announced two more national rail strikes later this month. Workers will walk out on 15 and 17 September in a long-running dispute about pay, jobs and conditions.