Avanti To Remove 38 Trains a Week for 6 Weeks in the Summer

[LNW-GW Joint]

Avanti will cut services to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for 6 weeks in the summer (July 20-Aug 28), on weekdays.
This amounts to one train lopped from the timetables each hour to each destination, leaving at least an hourly service (2tph for Birmingham/Manchester).
Apparently no changes at weekends, and it looks like Scotland/Chester/North Wales services are unaffected.

The cuts are at the behest of DfT in order to reduce costs.
It is not said to be because of lack of resources in the high summer period, which has caused cancellations in the past.

The cuts don't seem to have reached journey planners yet, or RTT.

MSN

One in seven train services are to be cut on Avanti West Coast's busiest routes following a Government request to reduce expenditure, the operator has confirmed.
Approximately 38 daily weekday services will be stripped from timetables for a six-week period beginning July 20.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've heard of this elsewhere.

It doesn't seem unreasonable. Midweek daytimes are the quietest time on intercity (and indeed commuter) routes. There's little point carting fresh air.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Won't be the first time Avanti have cut their Manchester service - wonder if we'll see a return of LSL's Friday special.

 

[D1511]

As long as my 9S and 9M services to Scotland via WM are unaffected......although when I do occasionally catch a faster Liverpool via TVL and change at Crewe, the loadings on those services are generally quite high.

 

[XCTurbostar]

I would be interested in the actual metrics of reducing service since the drivers, guards, hosts and the rolling stock leases will still be paid regardless of if the trains run or not.

Ultimately, as long as the reductions are proportional to expected usage then I don't have an issue with it.

 

[John R]

I would be interested in the actual metrics of reducing service since the drivers, guards, hosts and the rolling stock leases will still be paid regardless of if the trains run or not.

Ultimately, as long as the reductions are proportional to expected usage then I don't have an issue with it.

It might make the peak summer holiday season easier to manage, and reduce overtime levels?

 

[The exile]

I would be interested in the actual metrics of reducing service since the drivers, guards, hosts and the rolling stock leases will still be paid regardless of if the trains run or not.

Less overtime / RDW? Presumably it’s a popular period for staff holidays as well so may also be bowing to the inevitable - lower DR payments than K sat minute cancellations.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As long as my 9S and 9M services to Scotland via WM are unaffected......although when I do occasionally catch a faster Liverpool via TVL and change at Crewe, the loadings on those services are generally quite high.

It'll be interesting to see what pattern they use for this. If it's the just-post-COVID 2tph timetable the 9S/9Ms will be joined to the semifast path and run using Pendolinos instead of 807s. That's actually a service upgrade for anyone using Watford Jn, MKC or Rugby.

If occupancies are higher they might also push Advance fares up a bit.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 May 2026 ==

I would be interested in the actual metrics of reducing service since the drivers, guards, hosts and the rolling stock leases will still be paid regardless of if the trains run or not.

I expect it'd reduce holiday-cover overtime.

 

[Peter0124]

As long as my 9S and 9M services to Scotland via WM are unaffected......although when I do occasionally catch a faster Liverpool via TVL and change at Crewe, the loadings on those services are generally quite high.

They might take slower paths south of Birmingham and become the Avanti stoppers. Atleast that's what happened with the 2tph timetable last time.

If so, I can imagine the 807s won't see much work outside of the Liverpools.

 

[D1511]

They might take slower paths south of Birmingham and become the Avanti stoppers. Atleast that's what happened with the 2tph timetable last time.

That's fine as I generally alight and board at either Stafford or Crewe. Stopping at MK might be handy sometimes though.

It'll be interesting to see what pattern they use for this. If it's the just-post-COVID 2tph timetable the 9S/9Ms will be joined to the semifast path and run using Pendolinos instead of 807s. That's actually a service upgrade for anyone using Watford Jn, MKC or Rugby.

Not sure what you mean, as all the Edinburghs are Pendos now, normally 11s.....unless the plan is to move to 807s. I bloody hope not! I assume you mean the Scottish Pendos will make the stops that the 807s on the Birminghams do.

 

[Barn]

Expect to see much more of this in the new era, as the lack of any need to give contractual certainty to businesses will mean decision-making needn't be as long-term as it has been, especially for pre-covid franchise arrangements. There are both upsides and downsides to this, of course.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not sure what you mean, as all the Edinburghs are Pendos now, normally 11s.....unless the plan is to move to 807s. I bloody hope not! I assume you mean the Scottish Pendos will make the stops that the 807s on the Birminghams do.

In the timetable that previously did this, the Pendolinos ran the semifast then waited at New St to go into the path of the fast to Scotland. Southbound it waited at Wolves. 807s were not used (though I note there is one evening service that only goes as far as Crewe that does use one).

It worked well enough to be honest. Better in some ways.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Not sure what you mean, as all the Edinburghs are Pendos now, normally 11s.....unless the plan is to move to 807s. I bloody hope not! I assume you mean the Scottish Pendos will make the stops that the 807s on the Birminghams do.

I could be wrong, but I'm certain Avanti Scottish based Drivers and TMs don't sign 80x fleet as they haven't previously worked in passenger service north of Preston.

 

[Peter0124]

I can understand the 3rd Brum and 2nd Liverpool going but is there really a strong case for reducing Manchester?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Looks like they are showing on RTT, filter for CAN, it's not as bad as a full 1tph reduction.

Looking at Monday the 20th of July:
For Liverpool the 07:07, 09:08, 11:08, 13:08 and 18:08 departures are cancelled, with their respective arrivals cancelled too, in addition to the 18:35 and 22:33 ex-London.
For Birmingham the 05:50 (05:27 from Wolverhampton), 08:17 (06:23 from Manchester), 09:21, 10:21, 11:47, 13:21, 14:21, 15:47, 18:21 and the respective arrivals are cancelled, in addition to the 21:48 ex-London.
For Manchester the 06:23, 07:54, 12:14, 16:14, and 18:14 are cancelled, with their respective arrivals too, in addition to the 21:19 and 23:07 arrivals.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I could understand diesel operated (or bimode) services reduced (because of the Iran-USA-Israel war), but not electric.

 

[Peter0124]

Looks like they are showing on RTT, filter for CAN, it's not as bad as a full 1tph reduction.

Looking at Monday the 20th of July:
For Liverpool the 07:07, 09:08, 11:08, 13:08 and 18:08 departures are cancelled, with their respective arrivals cancelled too, in addition to the 18:35 and 22:33 ex-London.
For Birmingham the 05:50 (05:27 from Wolverhampton), 08:17 (06:23 from Manchester), 09:21, 10:21, 11:47, 13:21, 14:21, 15:47, 18:21 and the respective arrivals are cancelled, in addition to the 21:48 ex-London.
For Manchester the 06:23, 07:54, 12:14, 16:14, and 18:14 are cancelled, with their respective arrivals too, in addition to the 21:19 and 23:07 arrivals.

That is quite inconsistent though, with random two hourly gaps in services on the Manchester via Crewe for instance.

Unless it hasn't all loaded in yet.

 

[ajp999]

Will additional stops such as at Lichfield / Tamworth be added to other services to compensate for the cancelled services?

 

[nineteenninety]

I could be wrong, but I'm certain Avanti Scottish based Drivers and TMs don't sign 80x fleet as they haven't previously worked in passenger service north of Preston.

The 805s have ventured up to Carlisle a few times, albeit via the Settle line. As to who signed the route, im not too sure.

 

[London Trains]

Midweek daytimes are the quietest time on intercity (and indeed commuter) routes. There's little point carting fresh air.

Except these cuts are happening at precisely the time of year where this is not true. All these nonsensical frequency reductions are going to do is cause more people to drive instead of travelling by train.

 

[DPQ]

Avanti are not the only TOC doing this. Not naming names but a look in realtime trains etc at the first week of the summer holidays tells all.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Avanti are not the only TOC doing this. Not naming names but a look in realtime trains etc at the first week of the summer holidays tells all.

Why not bother to state who you're referring to if it's publicly available information?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Looks like they are showing on RTT, filter for CAN, it's not as bad as a full 1tph reduction.

Looking at Monday the 20th of July:
For Liverpool the 07:07, 09:08, 11:08, 13:08 and 18:08 departures are cancelled, with their respective arrivals cancelled too, in addition to the 18:35 and 22:33 ex-London.
For Birmingham the 05:50 (05:27 from Wolverhampton), 08:17 (06:23 from Manchester), 09:21, 10:21, 11:47, 13:21, 14:21, 15:47, 18:21 and the respective arrivals are cancelled, in addition to the 21:48 ex-London.
For Manchester the 06:23, 07:54, 12:14, 16:14, and 18:14 are cancelled, with their respective arrivals too, in addition to the 21:19 and 23:07 arrivals.

Those cancellations have appeared in RTT in the less than an hour since I opened this thread.
Apart from reducing crew pressures, it will also give Alstom time to catch up on maintenance.

 

[John R]

GWR is also showing a lot of cancellations on Monday 20th July.

 

[Benjwri]

Those cancellations have appeared in RTT in the less than an hour since I opened this thread.
Apart from reducing crew pressures, it will also give Alstom time to catch up on maintenance.

The cancellations have been on RTT for the first two week since at least Saturday.

 

[Acathater]

I could be wrong, but I'm certain Avanti Scottish based Drivers and TMs don't sign 80x fleet as they haven't previously worked in passenger service north of Preston.

They've got as far as Lancaster on training runs

 

[Benjwri]

GWR is also showing a lot of cancellations on Monday 20th July.

That probably deserves its own thread, there’s a month long closure of the line between Swindon and Bristol Parkway and so the Wales services are hourly via Bath for effectively the whole of July. Nothing to do with this thread though.

 

[London Trains]

Why not bother to state who you're referring to if it's publicly available information?

I'm not sure what the person you're quoting is talking about - Southeastern and GWR services are affected by line closures, and I can see the removal of a few peak extras for Southern, but I can't find any of these ridiculous, swathing cuts to off-peak services for any other TOCs.

 

[station_road]

I'm not sure what the person you're quoting is talking about - Southeastern and GWR services are affected by line closures, and I can see the removal of a few peak extras for Southern, but I can't find any of these ridiculous, swathing cuts to off-peak services for any other TOCs.

Hardly "swathing cuts" - 6 trains a day from Manchester when the service is every 20 minutes

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Avanti will cut services to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for 6 weeks in the summer (July 20-Aug 28), on weekdays.
This amounts to one train lopped from the timetables each hour to each destination, leaving at least an hourly service (2tph for Birmingham/Manchester).
Apparently no changes at weekends, and it looks like Scotland/Chester/North Wales services are unaffected.

The cuts are at the behest of DfT in order to reduce costs.
It is not said to be because of lack of resources in the high summer period, which has caused cancellations in the past.

Are they picking on Avanti as one of the few that are left in private hands as it wouldn't be a good look on the nationalised operators? Also odd given AWC are the only operator other than GA to pay a premia. However, if the operator is still highly dependant on rest day working/overtime makes sense to in the holiday period rather than have random cancellations daily. Thing to watch is whether all services get reinstated of course