THE collapse of the timetable on the West Coast Main Line is the result of several factors. All have occurred in the relatively short amount of time since the West Coast Partnership franchise was taken over by Avanti on December 8, 2019. The previous operator, who had held the franchise for 22 years, was Virgin Trains.
Avanti West Coast (AWC) is a joint venture established between First Group and Trenitalia, the Italian national railway operator. The content of the contract was to continue to run existing West Coast operations with some timetable enhancements until the opening of the first stage of HS2, which was then anticipated
