Overview
- Avanti West Coast, which announced the plan on Monday, will remove about 38 weekday trains from July 20 to August 28 on routes between London Euston and Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
- The Department for Transport requested cost savings and accepted the operator’s short-term weekday timetable to save taxpayers money.
- The operator says it will target lower-demand slots on routes with more than one train per hour, and affected services are being taken off booking sites before tickets go on sale.
- Avanti says the change is not due to a lack of staff or trains, noting it last trimmed schedules in August 2022 to reduce short-notice cancellations.
- Office of Rail and Road data shows government support for rail operations was £11.9 billion in the year to March 2025, down 7% on the year but still well above pre-pandemic levels.