UK: Avanti West Coast Expands Rail Services

Avanti West Coast has increased rail services across its network as part of a newly-updated September timetable.

An additional 86 trains have been added to the operator’s timetable per week, with Avanti now offering 38,000 more seats across its network – an increase of 3.8%.

The expanded service timetable launches today (15 September) and will see an extra 36 trains per week scheduled to run between London and Liverpool, increasing services to every half-hour and doubling previous offerings of one per hour.

Services have also been added between London and the Midlands, with 26 more trains travelling per week made up of 20 weekday services, four on Saturday and two on Sunday.

Elsewhere, services have increased between Manchester and Chester, with both locations now receiving  a new weekly southbound service to London.

Andy Mellors, Manging Director at Avanti West Coast said:

This uplift builds on the progress we made in May and will bring benefits across the network reflecting our long-term ambition to run a consistent ten trains per hour.

By continuing to grow the timetable in stages, we’re able to respond to demand in a measured and sustainable way – ensuring we scale our operations responsibly while maintaining the standards our customers rightly expect.

The service increases have been made possible by the introduction of the operator’s new 350 million GBP Evero fleet, which is made up of 13 bi-mode and 10 electric trains. Up to 20 of the new units are set to run per day, starting today (15 September).