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 Class 390 Pendolino on the West Coast Main Line in 2022 | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise(s) | West Coast Partnership | ||
| Main region(s) | |||
| Other region(s) | |||
| Fleet |
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| 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[1][2] | ||
| Predecessor | Virgin Trains | ||
| Other | |||
| Website | www | ||
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First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
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 (HS2) services from 2026, before project delays moved its expected completion. However combination of poor performance and the upcoming abolition of the franchise system has resulted in the contract expiry being revised to October 2026, before the completion of HS2.
Avanti West Coast provides 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, and since 2024, newly built Class 805 bi-mode multiple units and Class 807 electric multiple units, which had replaced the Super Voyagers by the end of the year.[5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nrc23was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "West Coast partnership 2023: national rail contract" (PDF). Department for Transport. gov.uk. 21 March 2024. p. 76 | Specified Additional Rolling Stock. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Avanti Introduces its Evero bi-mode fleet into service". News. Railways Illustrated. No. 258. August 2024. pp. 8–9.
- ^ @todaysrailways (2 June 2024). "Welcome to Evero! @AvantiWestCoast has branded its new Hitachi Class 805/807 units "Evero". Six Class 805s are in service today on the Euston-Chester/Holyhead/Wrexham routes - 805001/004/008/009/011/012" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 June 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Our Super Voyager Trains". www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2024.