Passenger train services • Main line services / Ticketing • Intercity • Private mainline operators • Great-Britain • Avanti West Coast

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Key points

• Avanti West Coast is owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia since 2019 ;
• Long-distance services linking London, Midlands, Northwest England and Scotland ;
• New bi-mode Hitachi Class 805 Evero trains entered regular service in 2024 ;
• The West Coast Partnership will manage high-speed operations on HS2 ;
• It will back to the public GBR entity in 2027.
  

Read the full package about Avanti West Coast:

The company → 2.1 Class 390 → Train services → Economics

In brief

Regular routes
➤ Route A London Euston – Birmingham – Crewe / Manchester / Carlisle – Glasgow / Carlisle – Edinburgh / Blackpool
➤ Route B London Euston – Birmingham
➤ Route C London Euston – Tamworth – Crewe – Wrexham / Holyhead
➤ Route D London Euston – Tamworth – Crewe – Liverpool Lime Street
➤ Route E London Euston – Tamworth – Crewe / Stoke-on-Trent – Manchester
➤ Route F London Euston – Tamworth – Crewe – Preston – Carlisle – Glasgow / Preston – Blackpool

Rolling stock (past and present)

Class 390 Pendolino
Gec Alsthom
2000 – …

The Class 390 Pendolino trains are leased to Angel Trains. They use Fiat Ferroviaria’s tilting technology and were originally built by Alstom for Virgin, which owned the West Coast franchise. AWC has logically taken over the 53 units of nine or eleven cars, which are the fastest trainsets in Great Britain apart from Eurostar’s e320s.

Class 805 Evero
Hitachi
2024 – …

The Class 805 Evero is a type of dual-mode multiple unit built by Hitachi Rail for Avanti West Coast. Based on Hitachi’s A-train design, 13 five-car trainsets have been built to replace Class 221s on services between London Euston, Birmingham New Street and stations on the North Wales coast lines.

Class 807 Evero
Hitachi
2024 – …

In December 2019, Avanti West Coast placed an order for 10 seven-car electric units Class 807 (no dual-mode), which were to replace its Class 221 fleet. First services began in November 2024 between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston

Before Avanti West Coast

West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the UK’s busiest and most vital rail corridors which connect London Euston to major cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. the WCML It supports both passenger and freight traffic, linking England with Scotland and serving millions annually.

Since privatisation in 1997, the WCML was operated by a single franchise Virgin Trains (1997–2019). Operating under the legal name West Coast Trains Limited, Virgin Trains was a joint venture between Virgin Group (51%) and Stagecoach (49%). It began service on 9 March 1997, running long-distance intercity services from London Euston to destinations including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

Virgin Trains was known for introducing Class 390 Pendolino and Class 221 Super Voyager trains, enhancing speed and comfort. Despite some infrastructure challenges and delays in modernization projects, Virgin maintained strong brand recognition and passenger satisfaction throughout its tenure.

Virgin Rail was almost certain to be the beneficiary of the new franchise, but the UK government awarded in August 2019 the West Coast Partnership franchise to the FirstGroup-Trenitalia consortium, under the brand Avanti West Coast. At this time, Transport secretary was Chris Grayling under the Theresa May conservative government. The Virgin’s franchise ended on 7 December 2019.

The era of the West Coast Partnership

The partnership between FirstGroup and Trenitalia began when the UK Department for Transport (DfT) announced the competition for the West Coast Partnership franchise in 2017. The aim of this partnership was to respond to various calls for tenders, not just the West Coast franchise. The name “Avanti” reflects the forward-looking aspirations of the partnership, with “Avanti” meaning “forward” in Italian, symbolising progress and innovation.

The arrival of Trenitalia, which may have seemed surprising at the time, was in fact part of a well-defined strategy on the part of the Italian operator. Trenitalia is Italy’s primary train operator and is part of the state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) Group, Italy’s national railway company. It operates high-speed, regional, and international train services across Italy and beyond. In recent years, Trenitalia has expanded its operations in Greece, aiming to enter new markets across Europe. More recently, she begins operations in France on the Paris-Lyon-Milan route and in Spain under the name Iryo. Their involvement in the UK rail sector through Avanti West Coast was therefore part of this broader international expansion strategy.

This new consortium operator arrived at a time when questions were being asked about British rail policy. Fewer and fewer candidates were applying for tenders, and some, such as National Express, had even stopped to answer altogether.

2019

First Group and Trenitalia have announced the appointment of two managing directors for the new West Coast Partnership franchise, which started on 8 December 2019. The main headquarters of the franchise will be located in Birmingham. When taking over the franchise from Virgin Trains, First Trenitalia has opted to retain the existing management team led by Managing Director Phil Whittingham, Managing Director of Virgin Trains since 2013. ‘What we could see was a well-run business with good staff and good people there who are very passionate about the customer’ Steve Montgomery, Managing Director, First Rail, told Modern Railways. ‘We want to build on that; we want to pioneer exceptional as standard and we believe that the Virgin management team, the team that are staying there, can bring that for us.‘

2020

In January, Avanti West Coast awarded Alstom a £642 million, seven-year contract to refurbish and maintain its 56 Class 390 Pendolino trains. The £127 million refurbishment will enhance seating, lighting, toilets, onboard shops, and add at-seat chargers and improved Wi-Fi. Work will be done at Alstom’s Widnes centre, creating 100 jobs. Maintenance continues at five UK depots. Alstom will also partner with Hitachi for new train upkeep.

Since 7 September Avanti West Coast has restored direct trains from London to Shrewsbury, Wrexham, North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh as it increases daily services from 277 to 285, roughly 90% of its normal timetable. Avanti also says six trains each way will have extended dwells at Crewe to ensure passengers can board or alight without the services incurring station overtime.

2022: the dark year

The issue of driver availability and the problem of using rest days has greatly poisoned relations between AWC and successive governments. A reduced timetable of four trains per hour (tph) out of Euston was introduced in July; pre-Covid the operator ran 9tph for most of the day.

AWC only plannified to schedule services it is confident it that she was certain to run without a reliance on rest day working. Any return to system with rest day working was first rely on a pay deal being agreed; recruiting sufficient drivers to avoid any reliance on rest day working would have take a minimum of two years and would be expensive.

Prominent figures in the Midlands, already frustrated by the delays surrounding the construction of the new HS2 line, have been up in arms to get proper service restored to their respective cities. We were living through the final months of the Johnson government and Grant Shapps as Secretary of State for Transport.

There has been considerable pressure in Westminster to nationalise AWC permanently, against a backdrop of political warfare between the Conservatives, who are losing ground in the polls, and Labour, who are on the lookout for any missteps by the current government. Avanti Managing Director Phil Whittingham stepped down from his role on 15 September to pursue ‘other executive leadership opportunities’. 

After Liz Truss’s short-lived government, Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, choosing Mark Harper as Secretary of State for Transport.

In October 2022, Avanti West Coast was placed on a six-month short-term contract by the UK Department for Transport (DfT). The company was required to implement a recovery plan, which included recruiting over 100 new drivers, reducing reliance on rest day working, and improving ticket availability.

2023

At the end of March, Avanti West Coast received a further six-month extension to its operating contract, which was due to expire on 31 March. Transport Minister Mark Harper noted that since October 2022, AWC had made ‘very significant improvements’, including providing the highest level of weekday services in more than two years, reducing cancellations from 25% of services in August 2022 to 4.2% in early March, and recruiting more than 100 additional drivers. Cancellations have also dropped below 2%. Avanti will complete a £117 million refurbishment of its Class 390 Pendolinos and introduce 23 new Hitachi trains—13 bi-mode Class 805s and 10 electric Class 807s—replacing the older Class 221 fleet.

On 15 October, Avanti West Coast has secured a National Rail Contract (NRC) for up to nine years, following marked improvements in reliability, punctuality, and customer satisfaction. The contract, managed by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%), includes a fixed annual fee of £5.1 million and a potential variable fee of £15.8 million based on five performance metrics. The Department for Transport retains revenue and most cost risks, allowing Avanti to focus on service enhancements. The long-term contract provides stability for future planning, including timetable development and fleet upgrades. Transport Secretary Mark Harper emphasized the importance of sustained improvements and long-term certainty for passengers and operators alike.

2024

On 2 June, the first Hitachi Class 805 five-car bi-mode units entered service for Avanti West Coast , with No 805009 working the 10.37 Crewe – Euston. Nos 805001/009 also worked to Holyhead at the same time. The trains have been branded ‘Evero.’

On 11 November, Avanti West Coast launched its first Class 807 Evero train from Liverpool Lime Street, marking a step toward expanding services to London. Ten new weekday departures will supplement the current hourly service, with 30 extra weekly services planned in December. Full half-hourly frequency is delayed due to power supply constraints, but further additions are expected in 2026. The £350 million Evero fleet includes 10 electric and 13 bi-mode trains, replacing Class 221s. These 451-seat trains will also serve the West Midlands and Blackpool. Liverpool City Council supports the expansion, citing strong demand and economic benefits from improved connectivity.

2025

In July, The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) rejected open access applications from Virgin, Lumo, and WSMR for new services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), citing insufficient capacity and risks to performance. All proposals would consume nearly all theoretical paths and firebreaks—essential buffers for timetable recovery—on the congested WCML South. Network Rail modelling predicts further deterioration in punctuality if these paths are used. Power supply constraints and uncertainty around HS2’s timetable also influenced the decision. Despite support from the Department for Transport for WSMR, ORR maintained that capacity and performance concerns were decisive. 🟧

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