The government should remove the west coast rail franchise from Avanti trains if cut services are not restored, Labour has said.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh warned that the operator had “no business” holding the contract to run services if they could not meet its conditions.
It comes after the operator dramatically cut services on the UK’s flagship intercity rail route because it has not not hired enough staff to cover shifts.
The timetable between London and Manchester had been abruptly cut from three trains an hour to just one train, “until further notice”, among other reductions in intercity services.
The operator relies on staff to volunteer to work overtime on weekends, to cover gaps in its staffing – but fewer have been doing so in recent weeks, leading to shortages.
Avanti claims that staff are covertly taking undeclared industrial action by not volunteering to work on rest-days, with a dramatic reduction in those coming forward.
Unions say the claim of a secret strike is untrue, that the company simply does not employ enough drivers, and that it should “stop lying and start recruiting”.
Speaking on Tuesday shadow transport Secretary Ms Haigh said that the government should stop paying Avanti fees under its management contract for service it was not running – and ultimately strip it over the contract if the situation does not improve.
“This fiasco is causing real damage to the regional economy, passengers and the public,” she said.
“This hapless government cannot continue to wash their hands of responsibility, blame anyone but themselves, and reward failure without consequences.
“It’s time ministers put passengers first. They should demand a plan from the operator to urgently restore these services, claw-back taxpayers’ money being handed over for services that aren’t running, and if the private operator cannot fulfil their contract, they have no business holding it.”
The problems come at a crucial time for the railways, with passenger numbers recovering from a huge slowdown in Covid. Prior to the timetable reduction national rail services were running at an average of 90 per cent of pre-pandemic loadings.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has previously branded Avanti a “failing service”, while London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Avanti have behaved appallingly, reducing services without consultation whilst blaming the workers who keep the service running.”
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the Aslef rail union, said: “The truth is that the company does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it promises passengers it will run. The company, and the minister [Grant Shapps], should stop lying and start recruiting.”
Aslef members at Avanti are set to strike on 13 August as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, but the union says no other action is being taken other than that declared.
Aslef has long supported moving away from overtime rest day working and towards having Sundays as a regular rostered day.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “People deserve certainty and confidence that their train will run on time, and while this move was unavoidable, it should minimise the fallout for passengers.
“This is a prime example of why we need to modernise our railways, so that passengers benefit from reliable timetables which don’t rely on the goodwill of drivers volunteering to work overtime in the first place.”
A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast, said: “From August 14 until further notice, we have introduced a reduced timetable on our services.
“This is due to the current industrial relations climate which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels, as well as the majority of drivers making themselves unavailable for overtime in a co-ordinated fashion, and at short notice.
“As a result of this, customers have faced multiple short-notice cancellations on our network which has had a severe impact on their plans.
“The reduced timetable is being introduced to ensure a reliable service is delivered so our customers can travel with greater certainty. This decision was not taken lightly, and we are sorry for the enormous frustration and inconvenience this will cause.
“We urge the rail unions to engage in meaningful industry reform discussions around modernising working practices and developing a railway fit for the 21st century and we look forward to further talks on this.”
