Avanti West Coast, which operates services from London to cities in northern England and Scotland, said on Monday it would operate an emergency timetable from August 14 until “further notice”. It also announced that it has temporarily suspended the sale of all tickets. It will reduce services to four trains an hour from London to cities including Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The company usually operates seven an hour from London, including three to Manchester. Avanti blamed the disruption on “the current industrial relations climate” in the rail industry, which has been hit by a series of national strikes over pay, potential job losses and changes in working practices. The company, in which the UK’s FirstGroup owns 70% and Italian state rail company Trenitalia 30%, said it had been hit by “severe staff shortages” due to increased sickness. He blamed the “unofficial strike”, with fewer drivers signing up to work on their days off in recent weeks. The carrier’s timetable is largely dependent on staff agreeing to work days off, with up to 400 trains a week operated by drivers working overtime. That number has dropped to just 50 trains in recent weeks, leading to significant service disruption, it said. The claim that the refusal to work overtime was an “unofficial strike” has angered unions. Aslef, the drivers’ union, said the claim was “a lie” and that Avanti was not employing enough drivers. Its members are set to strike in succession on Saturday over pay at nine rail operators, including Avanti. However, union officials said its members had not taken any other industrial action and that the days off were entirely voluntary. The RMT union, which is in dispute with Network Rail, the operator of the UK rail network, as well as most train operators, has called for a meeting with Grant Shapps, the UK transport secretary, about the condition in Avanti. “Avanti is falsely and shamefully claiming that this decision is due to informal industrial action, when in fact this decision is a result of poor management, downsizing and poor staff morale,” said Mick Lynch, head of the RMT. . Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, said Avanti’s move to a reduced schedule would “create significant harm to business travellers”, adding: “It will drive people into cars and onto planes as they look for alternative arrangements”. Avanti acknowledged the disruption would cause “enormous frustration and inconvenience”, but said the new reduced timetable would allow customers to travel “with greater confidence”. The government has been approached for comment.
