Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
Class 390 Pendolino on the West Coast Main Line in 2022 | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise(s) | West Coast Partnership | ||
| Main region(s) |
| ||
| Other region(s) |
| ||
| Fleet size | |||
| Stations called at | 46 | ||
| Stations operated | 16 | ||
| Parent company | FirstGroup (70%) Trenitalia (30%) | ||
| Reporting mark | VT | ||
| Dates of operation | 8 December 2019–18 October 2026 | ||
| Predecessor | Virgin Trains | ||
| Other | |||
| Website | www | ||
| |||
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the InterCity West Coast franchise would be replaced by the West Coast Partnership (WCP). In August 2019, the DfT awarded the WCP franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium. On 8 December 2019, Avanti West Coast took over operations from the prior operating company Virgin Trains, which had run the franchise since 1997. Originally, the franchise was initially scheduled to run until March 2030, and had also been set to operate the initial High Speed 2 services from 2026, before project delays moved its expected completion. However, during December 2020, it was announced that First Trenitalia and the DfT had agreed to terminate the WCP franchise at the earlier date of 31 March 2026 as part of the abolition of the franchise system; later revisions resulting from COVID-19 and poor performance shortened the contract expiry to October 2023 before being extended to October 2026.
Avanti West Coast provide the principal long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. Its services connect six of the largest cities in the UK: London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18 million. At the start of the franchise, the rolling stock used for these services consisted of 56 Class 390 Pendolino high speed electric multiple units and 20 Class 221 Super Voyager diesel-electric multiple units; in 2019, it was announced that the Super Voyagers would be replaced by newly built Class 805 bi-mode multiple units and Class 807 electric multiple units. Originally, Avanti West Coast was set to operate the pending high speed train fleet intended for use on High Speed 2, although the contract is set to end prior to the completion of this new railway as of 2023.