Both companies have been hit by strikes since industrial action started last year. But Avanti previously recorded one of the highest cancellation rates for any operator since records began back in 2014.
However, Labour's Mike Amesbury suggested the contract had been renewed on the basis that the operator is"a little less crap than it used to be".
David Jones, the former Tory cabinet minister, also said the decision will be"very badly received" by passengers in north Wales.Since January this year the cancellation rate of Avanti West Coast services fell from 13% to 3% in March and 1.1% in July, the government said.While a quarter of Avanti trains arrived 15 minutes after their scheduled time last December, the department said 90% of trains now arrive within 15 minutes of when they're due.
At the height of its poor performance, in the four weeks to 7 January Avanti West Coast cancelled the equivalent of roughly and logged a cancellations score of 18.9% - one of the highest recorded for any operator in records dating back to 2014.Read more
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry given new contractsThe rail operators have been awarded the long-term contract renewals by the Department for Transport.
Read more »
New contracts for Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry despite unreliabilityOne of Britain’s least reliable train operators has been handed a long-term contract renewal.
Read more »
Labour: Passengers will be ‘appalled’ at new contracts for train operatorsThe Department for Transport announced that Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry will continue to run services.
Read more »
Labour: Passengers will be ‘appalled’ at new contracts for train operatorsThe Department for Transport announced that Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry will continue to run services.
Read more »
Avanti and CrossCountry given new contracts despite less than half of trains running on timeLabour says passengers will be 'appalled' at the new deals, lasting up to nine years for Avanti and eight years for CrossCountry
Read more »
Avanti West Coast awarded long-term contract to run Manchester to London trainsThe operator had been ordered to improve
Read more »