A TRAIN firm has been branded a ‘shambles’ by an MP who has called for the operator to be ‘kicked into touch’.

Train company Avanti West Coast has been warned it could lose its franchise through poor performance, according to Mike Amesbury, in response to a parliamentary question by the Runcorn MP.

He backs Labour’s manifesto pledge that passenger services will be taken over by a public sector company when a private firm’s contract expires or is broken through a failure to deliver.

Latest statistics reveal there was a 506 per cent increase in the number of train cancellations by Avanti West Coast, which links London with the north of England – including Runcorn and Warrington Bank Quay – and Scotland.

This is when comparing the third quarters of 2016/17 and 2023/24, while the percentage of trains running on time in the third quarter of 2023/24 was just 37.2 per cent.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Amesbury put a question to Louise Haigh, the Secretary of State for Transport.

He asked: “When can we expect to see the shambles that is Avanti West Coast kicked into touch and returned to public ownership?

“I would certainly welcome that, and so would lots of northerners up and down the country.”

Ms Haigh responded: “One of the first meetings I held as Secretary of State was with Avanti.

“I called it in, as one of the worst-performing operators, with representatives of its Network Rail business unit —a meeting that was not held by any of my three predecessors while I was shadow Secretary of State.

“I made it clear that Avanti’s level of performance will not be tolerated, and we will use all measures under its national rail contract to hold it to account.

“That does not exclude terminating the contract before it expires if Avanti defaults.”

Mr Amesbury was critical when, last October, the then Conservative Government extended Avanti West Coast’s contract by a core term of three years up to a maximum possible of nine years.

He has supported the second reading of Labour’s proposed law to take passenger trains into public ownership.

He said: “Constituents are fed up with the unreliability of our train services, including Avanti West Coast, as evidenced by my postbag.

“We will establish Great British Railways to deliver a unified network that focuses on reliable, affordable, high-quality and efficient services, along with ensuring safety and accessibility.”