Hello and thanks for reading our latest stakeholder newsletter. This is the first edition published since I was appointed Managing Director. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, and share our plans and priorities to deliver the best possible service to the customers and communities we are proud to serve.

I’m honoured to be the new Managing Director, especially with my long-standing connection to the West Coast Main Line both personally and professionally. I have lived and worked across the route, and understand how vital it is to connect people and places.

My priority, and my passion, is to give our customers the best possible experience. I am sorry for the inconvenience and frustration suffered in previous months. I want to rebuild confidence by consistently delivering our timetable promise and delivering a great customer experience. I also want to rebuild trust through collaboration, we’ll be honest, open, authentic, and accountable, including on the challenges that remain. And I want to help grow rail by developing our offering with introduction of new and refurbished fleet, as well as investing in communities.

Our recovery plan is working and delivering significant, measurable improvements in capacity, punctuality, performance and customer satisfaction. Reliability has improved significantly, over the last few months cancellations that AWC is responsible for have been stable at no more than 1.5%. Over 90% of all trains have arrived within 15 minutes of their planned time. Weekday tickets are now available 12 weeks in advance, and weekends are at 8 weeks – in line with industry standards. There is still some way to go, but Avanti West Coast is on the right track.

We are clear that challenges remain. We have already taken actions to improve traincrew availability. For example, over the last year, nearly 100 additional drivers have become available for operating our services, as new drivers and those who need re-training became available to work.  We have also worked to tackle structural issues, for example equalising rosters to minimise reliance on voluntary overtime.

We face summer performance headwinds. We anticipate resourcing challenges caused by a range of factors including increased training requirements for our new Hitachi trains, historic annual leave agreements, engineering works, and ongoing industrial disputes. Historically, these issues were mitigated through increased reliance on voluntary overtime.

We want to grow rail. Our Pendolinos are halfway through a £117m refurbishment, customers are enjoying new seats, better lighting, improved charging facilities, more luggage space, and more accessible friendly spaces. The Shop is also redesigned and offers more space. We are working with Hitachi to deliver a new £350m fleet of electric and bi-mode trains that will replace the diesel Super Voyager fleet. We continue to invest in regions and communities across our railway, and as I continue to travel the network, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

We are delighted to be hosting our third annual stakeholder conference on 26 June at the ThinkTank in Birmingham. If you would like to attend please register via Eventbrite here.

The day will bring together political and industry leaders to discuss how we can grow rail for the benefit of customers, communities, and economic growth. The conference is a crucial part of West Coast Partnerships aim to engage and collaborate with stakeholders.

We are delighted that the conference will feature a variety of high-profile speakers including:

• Andy Mellors, Managing Director, Avanti West Coast
• Shamit Gaiger, Managing Director, West Coast Partnership Development
• Lord Patrick McLoughlin CH, Chair, Transport for the North
• Iain Stewart MP, Chair, Transport Select Committee
• Anit Chandarana, Lead Director, GBRTT 
• Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner, Greater Manchester 
• James Dean, Route Director, WCML South, Network Rail
• Andy Bagnall, Chief Executive, Rail Partners
• David Sidebottom, Director, Transport Focus 
• Emma Head, Technical Services Delivery Director, HS2 Ltd

A variety of panel sessions are planned for the day focused on how we, through both Avanti West Coast and West Coast Partnership Development, can improve rail for the benefit of customers. You’ll hear from a range of experts across numerous key issues, including rail reform, innovation, and how we collaborate to drive regional growth.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference. Shortly after the event, we will be launching our annual stakeholder survey. At that time, you will receive a link to invite you to participate. Please do take the time to fill it in. We value your feedback as its helps shape our engagement with you and inform our decision making. In a future newsletter, we’ll share the headline findings from the 2023 survey, and our action plan to address these findings.

On Wednesday 24^th May, MPs and Peers had the opportunity to meet Andy Mellors and other senior members of the West Coast Partnership team at our Parliamentary drop in.

This was a great chance for Andy and the team to hear MPs’ thoughts on our performance and answer their questions, to help us understand their priorities, and to help shape our decision making.

33 MPs and Peers from every region of our network, including numerous members of the Transport Select Committee and relevant All Party Parliamentary Groups attended.

We will be hosting another drop in for MPs later in the year.

Avanti West Coast will continue to connect young people to learning opportunities, as we prepare to take hundreds of school pupils on days out this summer for our Feel Good Field trips initiative.

Children from our network of partner schools, which are largely disadvantaged students who would not otherwise have this opportunity, will be taking the train this summer for fun and educational days out – marking over 1,500 students to be offered free trips by Avanti West Coast.

Since launching in April 2022, Feel Good Field Trips – a first of its kind initiative aiming to connect pupils around the country to immersive and enriching learning opportunities – 1,000 children have so far taken part in one of the 40 planned excursions.

The campaign is designed to give up to 5,000 pupils aged between four and 18, the chance to travel by train for hands-on learning, and culturally diverse days out that may previously have been inaccessible for them.

The trips organised have given pupils the opportunity to discover some key destinations on the West Coast – from an outdoor adventure in the Lake District to writing and recording poetry in Soho. Other activities have included trips to Manchester to cook up a curry and visit The Lowry theatre or enjoy a ferry ride on the River Mersey.

Avanti West Coast has launched an innovative low-cost ticket aimed at customers who can be more flexible with their journeys.

Superfare tickets will enable customers to buy a ticket for a specific date with the choice of morning, afternoon or evening slots, but the time will be selected by the intercity operator.

Around 24 hours before their journey, customers will be matched to an empty seat on a quieter train.

They will then be told the time of their train’s departure and their seat reservation.

Superfare tickets are available for single journeys between London and Birmingham, Liverpool, Preston, Manchester Piccadilly and Glasgow. Prices are set at fixed amounts with one-way fares costing between £12 and £30.

The number of tickets available on a route each day will vary and bookings can be made at least seven days and up to 21 days before travel.

Sales of Avanti West Coast’s Standard Premium service have topped 1.5 million journeys in the first two years since launch.

We became the first company to offer an additional class of travel as part of our services in May 2021. Sitting between Standard and First, Standard Premium customers enjoy roomier seats, greater space and a guaranteed table.

Initially available to buy as an upgrade on the day of travel, Advance purchase tickets for Standard Premium were added in September 2021. Single journey upgrade prices based on the Standard fare ranges from £15 for Birmingham to London to £30 for Glasgow to London

Manchester, with over half a million journeys, is the most favoured route for customers choosing Standard Premium, closely followed by the Anglo Scot route between London and Glasgow/Edinburgh. Over 300,000 Standard Premium journeys have been made on the Liverpool route.

An Avanti West Coast Community Champion has won the prestigious Unsung Hero prize at this year’s Women in Rail Awards.

Laura Warwick, who is a Team Leader at Runcorn station, was presented with the award for her community work to support the wider Runcorn, Widnes and Halton areas.

She has delivered many social initiatives across the region, including leading her own idea to transform the waiting room at Runcorn into a joint-function space to support community events.

In addition, she regularly speaks at local schools on Rail Safety and she is an avid supporter of Avanti West Coast’s “Feel-good Field Trips” initiative.

As part of the programme, she works closely with the local council and the Tate Gallery in Liverpool to arrange fun days out for children from disadvantaged school districts who might not otherwise be able to afford the experience.

Laura is a huge advocate for mental health awareness and has set up a weekly well-being drop-in session at Runcorn station alongside local peer support group, ‘It’s Good 2 Talk’.

She is also fully trained in direct suicide prevention interventions, and only recently as last year, Laura identified a vulnerable woman at risk and made sure she received the care she needed.

Avanti West Coast transported a train full of dedicated Eurovision Song Contest “Superfans” to Liverpool on a special service for the start of the competition.

The super fan train was a huge success and featured on the BBC national 6pm and 10pm news, and despite the strikes, we moved more than 6,000 people from Liverpool by train on Sunday, the equivalent of the seated capacity at the Final itself.

More than 100 excited international fans boarded Avanti West Coast’s Pride Train at London Euston and were treated to a Eurovision themed journey as they sped their way to Liverpool.

Guests were also treated to a surprise visit from music producer, Pete Waterman who joined the train at Crewe and delighted fans with tales of Eurovision and his career in the pop.

Looking after the fans was train manager Jan Fuller-Green, himself a member of fans’ group OGAE and a veteran of two Eurovision events in Stockholm and Lisbon.

Guests, with the help of Network Rail and Liverpool City Council, were welcomed at Lime Street station by Lord Mayor, Councillor Roy Gladden, drag queen Jonny Woo, along with Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and Culture Minister Stuart Andrew. They were then serenaded by the English National Opera with Abba’s hit Waterloo.

The Superfans are all members of The Organisation des Amateurs de l’Eurovision, or OGAE for short, the largest Eurovision Song Contest fan network in the world.  Founded in Finland in the 1980s, the network now includes more than 45 national clubs across Europe and beyond, with over 15,000 individual members.

Avanti West Coast has launched a new customer loyalty scheme that rewards frequent travellers with discounted travel and onboard food and drink, plus the chance to enjoy free Standard Premium as well as First Class tickets.

Club Avanti, which has three tiers of membership, has been rolled out following a successful nine month trial period that has seen over 80,000 customers sign up.

Upon joining Club Avanti, members qualify for an immediate 10% off their first journey as a Silver member. They also receive a voucher for a free welcome hot drink as well as a further 10% discount off all food and drink bought from the onboard shop (excluding meal deals).

Once nine journeys are made from the date of joining, members are elevated to Gold status. In addition to the discounted food and drink, Gold members also qualify for one free Standard Premium return journey.

Platinum membership is achieved by those making 21 journeys, with customers treated to a free First Class return ticket.