News

Avanti West Coast told to release train tickets earlier or face ‘formal measures’

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) says the rail operator is still "falling short" of what is expected.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 25th January 2023

Avanti West Coast has been ordered to release train tickets for its services further in advance, or face “formal measures” otherwise.

After customers have been claiming that the rail firm’s decision to only release tickets just a few days ahead of travel dates mean they are often being denied cheaper rates, Avanti West Coast has been told by rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to submit an improved recovery plan for producing timetables and releasing tickets by 2 February, or face “formal measures” if it fails to.

Since taking over from Virgin Trains back in December 2019, Avanti now runs the West Coast Mainline between London Euston and Glasgow Central, and also serves the Midlands, North West of England, and North Wales.

The rail firm is responsible for operating the route from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston.

Most rail operators have a 12-week booking window for tickets, but so far this month, passengers looking to book tickets for weekend travel on Avanti West Coast Services have only been able to buy them just a few days in advance, while weekday tickets have also been released far later than what should be expected.

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Avanti West Coast told to release train tickets earlier or face ‘formal measures’ / Credit: TPE

Avanti has blamed the delay in tickets becoming available on it having to produce bespoke timetables in partnership with Network Rail during engineering work that are currently going on, and says tickets can only be put on sale once timetables are confirmed.

But the ORR says the rail operator is still “falling short”, and that passengers are “rightly frustrated” at the deteriorating services.

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“By 2 February, we expect Avanti to identify what has gone wrong and set out how it intends to get back to releasing timetables in normal industry timescales so that passengers can plan and book journeys with greater confidence,” said Stephanie Tobyn, Strategy, Policy, and Reform Director of the ORR.

“Failure to produce an acceptable plan or to deliver improvements may lead to more formal measures.”

The ORR says the rail operator is still “falling short” of what is expected / Credit: Avanti West Coast

Addressing the order to improve services, a spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: “Unfortunately, some tickets for Saturdays and Sundays have only been available at short notice due to having to write unprecedented numbers of bespoke timetables to accommodate industrial action and engineering work which has stretched industry train planning resources.

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“We know this causes huge uncertainty and inconvenience for passengers, and we’re sorry for that.

“Weekend tickets are now on sale up to mid-February, and by mid-March we’ll be selling weekend tickets six weeks out.”

Featured Image – Avanti West Coast

News

A ‘lost town’ in Yorkshire has been discovered 650 years after being ‘swallowed by the sea’

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

The sunken town is dubbed ‘Yorkshire’s Atlantis’.

Britain’s lost Atlantis is thought to have finally been discovered after falling into the North Sea 650 years ago.

Historians believed it lay at the bottom of the ocean around a mile off from the Yorkshire coast.

Ravenser Odd is a town which sunk to the depths of the sea back in 1362, The Hoot Leeds reports.

Scientists have been in search of the town for years, and have likened its eventual discovery to Atlantis and Pompeii.

The sunken town, dubbed ‘Yorkshire’s Atlantis’, was once a popular stopping place for fishing boats and cargo ship that sat the mouth of the Humber Estuary.

Image: Unsplash

However, a new search closer to the shore has recently uncovered rocks and stonework beneath the water’s surface.

Specialist sonar equipment has been deployed in an attempt to discover the harbour walls of the lost town.

Professor Dan Parsons, a geoscientist at the University of Hull, is leading the search.

He told The Sun: “It’s fascinating, exciting, exhilarating. The exact location of this medieval town hasn’t ever been pinpointed.

“We now have the tools and the technology to go out there and locate it once and for all.”

Read more:

The search team hope to find the footprint of the town including its sea wall, harbour and foundations.

This will allow them to map it all out and create a 3D map which divers could then use to explore the site.

Scientists say they now have all the data needed and will be analysing the area under the sea in the coming weeks.

After all this, they should be able to confirm whether the findings are infact the lost Yorkshire town of Ravenser Odd.

News

Hit Christmas market stall opens permanently at Piccadilly Gardens

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Crunch Korean Gansig has become a must-try foodie stall at the Manchester Christma Markets, now it’s pulled up at Picadilly Gardens permanently.

The hit Korean hot dog stall has wowed visitors over the past few years with its cheese, potato and meat-filled creations.

Deep-fried in a crispy waffle coating and then lightly rolled in sugar, these sausages on a stick come drizzled in sweet ketchup and mustard.

Incredibly moreish if we do say so ourselves, since first making their appearance at the 2021 Manchester Christmas Markets they’ve consistently been ranked one of the event’s best food traders.

Now, thanks to a new permanent stall popping up where it all began for the team, Manc foodies can enjoy their hot meaty and cheesy Korean goodies all year long.

Popular flavour choices include all-cheese, all-sausage and half-and-half versions, with a vegetarian-friendly cheese-filled version wrapped in a potato waffle coating, and halal-friendly options that are made using separate batter and fryers.

This really is a hot dog stand that caters to everyone. With owners having previously said they would work on a vegan hot dog once they got their own permanent stand, we don’t expect the plant-powered gang will be left waiting too much longer.

Read more: A huge free festival is coming to Kampus with frozen margaritas and canal-side pizza

Sharing the news to Instagram, the Crunch Korean Gansig team wrote: “Hey guys, we’ve got exciting news to share! We are launching a new market stall in the Piccadilly garden street food market from tomorrow.

“After two years of successful Christmas trading, we are ready to take on a new challenge, and love to serve our hotdogs to you guys again!

“So come on down to the market and say hi, we love to see you there! See you soon!”

Fans of the Korean hot dog stall have responded to the news with enthusiasm, flooding into the comments to share their excitement.

One person wrote: “So excited we will have to go!!”

Another person said: “Nooooo stop!!! I’m so happy I could cry”

Read more: All the June Manchester restaurant deals, discounts and offers you need in 2023

A third added: “SO EXCITED”

Officially open as of 1 June, find them at the Piccadilly Garden Street Food Market.

Featured image – The Manc Eats

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