A meeting between the boss of Avanti West Coast and the new transport secretary has been described as ‘constructive’ by the train operating company.
Louise Haigh accused Avanti West Coast during the General Election campaign of providing a “woeful service” and said Labour would consider stripping the firm of its contract for the service, which runs services through Cumbria.
On Wednesday, Labour set out its legislative agenda for the next parliament in King’s Speech which included plans to re-nationalise the railways under the banner of Great British Railways.
Office of Rail and Road figures show Avanti West Coast had the third worst reliability of all operators in Britain in the year to the end of March, with the equivalent of one in 15 trains (6.9 per cent) cancelled.
Ms Haigh said improving rail connectivity in the North was her number one priority and has heavily criticised operator in the past.
The Department for Transport has said that the the meeting between the transport secretary and Avanti Boss, Andy Mellors, were part of a "concerted new effort to bring together track and train and hold both sides accountable."
Avanti West Coast, had been awarded a contract extension by the previous Conservative government after said it had seen ‘significant improvement’ in performance by the operator.
Avanti had been under significant pressure to improve after the government twice extended their contract by just six months, but the Tories awarded the company a core term of 3 years and a maximum possible term of 9 years on the West Coast Mainline.
Under their plans, Labour will end their contract after the three years and run the service.
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An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said that the discussion tackled "the issues which are unique to us as well as those affecting the industry a whole".
The spokesperson added: "It was a constructive session, and we look forward to holding more discussions on how we make further improvements to the railways in the coming months.”
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