Avanti West Coast has today been granted another six-month contract extension, after the government says it has made “recent service improvements”.
The company had previously been given until 1 April 2023 to continue running the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow by the Department for Transport (DfT), but had been told that it needed to “drastically improve” its services if it was to stand any chance of having the contract extended further beyond that date.
And now, it’s been announced by the DfT that after “significant improvements have been made since October”, the company has been awarded a further six-month extension to its contract.
The DfT says this decision comes after Avanti was ordered to develop a recovery plan aimed at “addressing poor performance on vital West Coast Main Line routes” – including between Manchester, Birmingham, and London.
Avanti West Coast has been granted another six-month contract extension / Credit: Avanti West Coast
Shortly after being placed on the first short-term contract back in October, Transport Secretary Mark Harper says he travelled to Manchester to meet with stakeholders so he could “further understand what could be done to address the situation and improve services” – and, according to the DfT, this meeting led to the decision to introduce a recovery timetable.
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The recovery timetable, which was introduced on 11 December 2022, is said to have since “significantly reduced reliance on overtime working” and has seen services increase from 180 trains per day to 264 on weekdays – which is apparently the highest level in over two years.
The government believes Avanti West Coast has seen “very significant improvements across services” since the introduction of this timetable.
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As well as an increase to weekday services, the DfT says Avanti West Coast has also seen a reduction in service cancellations from nearly 25% in August 2022, to 4.2% in early March 2023, which is the lowest in over 12 months.
90% of trains are also said to now arriving within 15 minutes of the booked time, and over 100 additional drivers have been recruited – which is “reducing reliance on union-controlled overtime working”.
The contract extension comes after ‘recent service improvements’ / Credit: Avanti West Coast
The government has conceded though that, although Avanti West Coast has made “significant progress” in the past six months, further work needs to be done to “restore reliability and punctuality to the standards that passengers rightly expect”.
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This will include delivering more reliable weekend services, continued reductions in cancellations, and improvements in passenger information during planned and unplanned disruption.
“The routes Avanti West Coast run are absolutely vital,” Transport Secretary Mark Harper said.
“I fully understand the frustrations passengers felt at the completely unacceptable services seen last Autumn, but following our intervention, Rail Minister Huw Merriman and I have worked closely with local leaders to put a robust plan in place, which I’m glad to see is working.
“However, there is still more work to be done to bring services up to the standards we expect, which is why over this next six months further improvements will need to be made by Avanti West Coast.”
Featured Image – Avanti West Coast
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‘Prolific’ South Manchester burglar jailed for thefts which included peanuts…
Daisy Jackson
A ‘prolific’ burglar has been jailed for just over two years, for numerous thefts including sunglasses, airpods, and peanuts…
The man was caught red-handed inside someone’s property, where he claimed he was just wanting a glass of water – but was found by police officers to have the resident’s car keys in his pocket.
Fazal Alnesi, 26, from Moss Side, was then linked to a number of other burglaries, attempted burglaries, and thefts across South Manchester.
Fazal was sentenced to 27 months at Manchester Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to offences including six counts of burglary in June of this year.
He was arrested on 12 June, when a man returned to his home in Fallowfield in the early hours of the morning and discovered Fazal inside his address.
He claimed he was there because he wanted a glass of water but subsequently refused to leave, which led to police being called.
Officers placed Alnensi in handcuffs and found the resident’s car keys in his pocket, as well as indications that he’d been rummaging through the man’s drawers.
He was later linked to other thefts include a wrench set from a car, a pedal cycle worth £350, airpods, sunglasses – and even peanuts from one address.
He additionally took an electric bike charger from one address worth hundreds of pounds.
PC Jon Holden, from GMP’s City of Manchester district, said: “Alnensi took various items from several homes and cars across a two-week period earlier this year, making off with hundreds of pounds worth of goods.
“Ultimately, Alnensi left people feeling unsafe in his own home, and I am glad he is now behind bars.
“Our team will investigate all burglaries, and I would encourage people to get in touch with us – all intelligence helps us lock up criminals and bring them to justice.”
The top 10 ‘happiest’ places to live in the North West in 2026 have been named
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 happiest places to live in the North West have been named for 2026.
It comes as Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index this week, just as it has done for the last 14 years now, exploring exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlighting the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year – with thousands of residents across more than 200 locations providing feedback.
The residents told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community, from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlined the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
So, when it comes to the North West as a whole then, where do we have in the top 10?
Well, to kick things off, you may have already seen that one Lancashire market town has earned its place in the top 10 nationwide, not just for the North West region – and that’s Chorley.
Closest to the Bolton and Wigan boroughs, Chorley – which is is about a 40-minute drive outside of Manchester, and sits on a direct train route into the city centre.
But aside from the national top 10, when it comes to the regional top 10, the next two towns following Chorley in second and third are both in Greater Manchester.
The North West’s top 10 happiest places to live 2026
Chorley
Stockport
Altrincham
Chester
Macclesfield
Southport
Kendal
Wirral
Northwich
Carlisle
Altrincham has been named one of the North West’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The ever-thriving Stockport comes in at number two, followed by Trafford favourite Altrincham directly behind it at number three.
Other of the region’s inclusions like Bury, Bolton, Wigan, and the Manchester borough itself all ranked towards the bottom.
Speaking on this year’s list, Colleen Babcock – a property expert at Rightmove – explained: “The balance between greenery and everyday convenience runs through the wider findings. Even among people who would ideally choose a rural setting, access to amenities, parks and public transport remains important.
“This year’s results suggest that the places people rate most highly aren’t simply urban or rural, but often bring together some of the best elements of both.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
Emily Sergeant -
20th March 2023 
