Avanti West Coast

Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that began operating the West Coast Partnership franchise on 8 December 2019. It replaced Virgin Trains, which had operated the franchise since 1997.

This article is about the current operator of the West Coast Partnership franchise. For the former train company, see Virgin Trains.

Avanti West Coast

Class 390 Pendolinos at London Euston.
Overview
Franchise(s)	West Coast Partnership 8 Dec 2019 – 31 March 2031
Main region(s)	Greater London South East England West Midlands North West England North Wales Scotland
Fleet size	20 Class 221 Super Voyagers 56 Class 390 Pendolinos
Stations called at	46
Stations operated	15
Parent company	FirstGroup (70%) Trenitalia (30%)
Reporting mark	VT
Predecessor	Virgin Trains
Other
Website	www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk

History

In November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that the InterCity West Coast franchise would be superseded by the West Coast Partnership (WCP), which would include operating High Speed 2 (HS2) services from 2026.[1]

The DfT required that bidders have experience in high-speed trains and infrastructure, hence all partnered with an existing high-speed operator.[2][3] In June 2017, the DfT announced that three consortia had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise:[4][5]

• FirstGroup (70%) / Trenitalia (30%)
• MTR Corporation (75%) / Guangshen Railway Company (25%)
• Stagecoach (50%) / SNCF (30%) / Virgin Group (20%)

In December 2018 Renfe Operadora joined the MTR-led bid.[6] In April 2019, the Stagecoach-led bid was disqualified after it proposed significant changes to the commercial terms.[7]

In August 2019 the DfT awarded the franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium with Avanti West Coast to commence operations on 8 December 2019.[8][9] The Competition and Markets Authority launched a merger inquiry into the award of the franchise following a referral from the European Commission.[10][11]

Services

Avanti West Coast currently operates the same services as Virgin Trains did on the West Coast Main Line. When High Speed 2 opens, it will also operate these services.

Over the course of the franchise several timetable changes are expected to be made.[12]

A vector map showing the off-peak service pattern each hour

The intercity routes are shown below:

London - West Midlands
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Euston to Birmingham New Street[lower-alpha 1]	1	Watford Junction[lower-alpha 2], Coventry, Birmingham International	390
	1	Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International
London Euston to Shrewsbury	-	Watford Junction (1tpd), Rugby (1tpd), Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley (1tpd), Wolverhampton, Telford Central, Wellington 2 trains per day	221
London - Manchester
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent	1	Milton Keynes Central, Stoke-on-Trent, Stockport Peak time trains additionally call at one or more of: Watford Junction, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley	390
	1	Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport Peak time trains additionally call at one or more of: Watford Junction, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley
London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe	1	Stafford (limited), Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport Peak time trains additionally call at one or more of: Watford Junction, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley
London - Chester and North Wales
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Euston to Chester	1	Milton Keynes Central, Crewe Some trains continue beyond Chester, see below	221
London Euston to Holyhead	-	Milton Keynes Central, Crewe, Chester, Flint (5tpd), Prestatyn (5tpd), Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno Junction, Bangor 7 trains per day to Bangor, 6 trains per day to Holyhead.
London Euston to Wrexham General	-	Milton Keynes Central, Crewe, Chester 1 train per day
London - Liverpool
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street	1	Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn Peak time trains additionally call at one or more of: Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley	390
London - North West and Scotland
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Euston to Glasgow Central	1	Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District (1tp2h), Penrith (1tp2h), Carlisle Some trains call additionally at: Lockerbie and Motherwell Oxenholme Lake District and Penrith are served by alternate trains.	390, 221
London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley or Glasgow Central via Birmingham New Street	1	Milton Keynes Central, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District (1tp2h), Penrith (1tp2h), Carlisle; 1tp2h continue to Edinburgh Waverley, calling at Haymarket; 1tp2h continue to Glasgow Central only. Oxenholme Lake District and Penrith are served by alternate trains.
London Euston to Blackpool North	-	Milton Keynes Central (one train, Fridays only), Rugby, Stafford (1tpd), Crewe (2tpd), Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Kirkham and Wesham (1tpd), Poulton-le-Fylde (1tpd) 4 trains per day Monday to Thursday, with an fifth on Fridays

Future services

Future services include:

• a daily service will be introduced between London Euston and Walsall from December 2020, with an additional northbound service from 2022
• additional calls will be made at Motherwell from December 2020
• an additional service will be introduced to Shrewsbury from December 2022
• a direct service will be introduced between London Euston and Llandudno during the summer months from May 2021
• Subject to approval by the Office of Rail and Road, an additional hourly service will be introduced between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street with a stop at Liverpool South Parkway from December 2022
• additional direct journeys at Milton Keynes Central to and from London Euston from December 2022
• extension of the daily service from London Euston to Wrexham General to Gobowen from December 2022
• earlier first trains and later last trains from London Euston to Llandudno Junction on weekends from December 2022
• earlier first trains and later last trains from London Euston to Chester on weekends by December 2022
• Later last trains from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays by December 2020

Rolling stock

Avanti West Coast commenced operations having inherited the existing Super Voyager and Pendolino fleets from Virgin Trains.

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Carriages	Number	Built	Notes
			mph	km/h
221 Super Voyager		DEMU	125	200	5	20	2001–2002	Set numbers 221101-118 & 221142-143 To be refurbished and overhauled and then replaced by the new AT300 units.[13][14]
390/0 & 390/1 Pendolino		EMU	140	225	9	21	2001–2004	Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo) refers to tilting trains. To be retained long-term and refurbished throughout.[15]
			140	225	11	31	2001-2004	Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo) refers to tilting trains. To be retained long-term and refurbished throughout.[15]
						4	2010-2012

Future fleet

All 20 of the Class 221 Super Voyager units will be replaced by 23 new trains from the Hitachi A-train family with maintenance taking place at Alstom's Oxley TRSMD depot in Wolverhampton.[16][17] These trains are to be divided into thirteen Class 805 bi-mode multiple units and ten Class 807 electric multiple units.[18] The Class 805 units are to be used for services to Shrewsbury, Chester, Gobowen and North Wales and the Class 807 units are to be used for services to Birmingham New Street, Blackpool North and Liverpool Lime Street (alongside the Pendolinos).[15][19]

Avanti West Coast will also operate the new fleet for High Speed 2 services from 2026.[20]

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Cars	Routes operated	Entering service
				mph	km/h
Hitachi AT300	805		Bi-mode multiple unit	125	200	13	5	London Euston to Chester London Euston to Gobowen/Llandudno and Holyhead London Euston to Shrewsbury	2022
	807		Electric multiple unit	125	200	10	7	London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street London Euston to Blackpool North London Euston to Birmingham New Street
TBA	TBA		Electric multiple unit	224	360	At least 54[20]	TBA	HS2 routes	2026

Notes

1. The London-Scotland via Birmingham service means a total of 3tph between London Euston and Birmingham New Street
2. Pick up only towards Birmingham, set down only towards London.

References

1. "New West Coast rail franchise to run HS2 services". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
2. Lea, Robert. "Wanted: Superfast mover to partner Virgin and Stagecoach for HS2". The Times. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
3. "RENFE poised to join Virgin's HS2 franchise bid". Railway Gazette International. DVV Media Group. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
4. West Coast Partnership and South Eastern rail franchise bidders Department for Transport 22 June 2017
5. "Three shortlisted for West Coast Partnership franchise". Railway Gazette International. DVV Media Group. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
6. "RENFE joins MTR's West Coast Partnership bid team". Railway Gazette International 20 December 2018
7. Stagecoach disqualified from three franchises in pension dispute Railway Gazette 10 April 2019
8. FirstGroup and Trenitalia welcome West Coast Partnership Award FirstGroup 14 August 2019
9. "West Coast marks new partnership model for rail" (Press release). Department for Transport. 14 August 2019.
10. "First Rail Holdings & Trenitalia UK / West Coast Partnership Rail Franchise". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
11. Topham, Gwyn (27 November 2019). "West coast train services to be rebranded with Avanti logo". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
12. West Coast Partnership franchise improvements map Department for Transport 14 August 2019
13. Clinnick, Richard (13 July 2020). "A CGI impression of the refurbishment planned for AvantiWestCoast Class 221s". Twitter.
14. Holden, Michael (13 July 2020). "Avanti West Coast sign £8.3m contract with Bombardier to overhaul Voyager trains". RailAdvent. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
15. First Trenitalia awarded West Coast Partnership Railway Gazette International 14 August 2019
16. "Hitachi Rail chosen to build new InterCity trains for Avanti West Coast". Global Railway Review. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
17. "Inter-city rail operator's £350m new trains fleet to be built in UK". www.lep.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
18. "Avanti confirms class numbers for Hitachi train order". www.railmagazine.com. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
19. "Avanti West Coast launched", Railways Illustrated, February 2020, page 6
20. High Speed 2 rolling stock bids submitted Railway Gazette International 5 June 2019

External links

• Official website

Preceded by Virgin Trains InterCity West Coast franchise

Operator of West Coast Partnership franchise 2019—2031

Succeeded by Incumbent