Avanti West Coast Looks To Recover
The title of this post is the same as an article in the March 2022 Edition of Modern Railways.
These are some points from the article.
Passengers Numbers Are Recovering
This is a paragraph.
Mr. Wittingham says the recovery has been strongest on the Anglo-Scottish and Liverpool corridors, while Manchester have begun to bounce back. Slowest to recover is the London to West Midlands market; ‘there’s several operators here and we were the main carrier of business passengers, and that sector has been recovering more slowly than leisure’ says Mr. Whittingham.
Phil Whittingham is MD of Avanti West Coast.
Train Numbers Are Recovering
Avanti are building up train numbers from Euston after the pandemic.
Frequencies are as follows in trains per hour (tph)
- Pre-Covid – 9
- During the pandemic – 4
- From December 2021 – 7
- Omicron – 4
- From February 2022 – 6
- From May 2022 – 6+
Avanti have reacted to demand.
Three Classes Of Travel
This is a paragraph.
Avanti’s business has historically been driven by leisure travel – before Covid this accounted for broadly 60 % of passengers, with most of the rest travelling for business plus a smaller number of commuters. ‘The demand is there, and we think by next year we’ll be on the way to full recovery’ says Mr. Whittingham. ‘Leisure has been strong, especially at weekends, but the missing bit is the corporate market.’
Avanti have been running a marketing campaign and it appears to have been successful.
This paragraph describes Avanti’s new Standard Premium class.
Last year, Avanti West Coast launched a new class of travel – Standard Premium. This was first introduced in May on an upgrade-only basis before going fully live in September with the option to book online in advance. The new class sits between Standard and First, giving passengers larger seats and greater space but without some of the extras that come with First Class Travel such as complimentary refreshments and lounge access.
These are Mr. Whittingham’s comments on the three classes.
The current split of passengers is 84% Standard, 12 % First and 4 % Standard Premium, but given the latter has been in place for less than a year there is clearly scope for growth. ‘Our research shows people have been upgrading to Standard Premium rather than downgrading from First’.
I have yet to try Standard Premium, but I will next time I use Avanti.
Refreshments
Avanti have decided to serve different refreshments in Standard Premium and First classes.
- In Standard Premium, they are now offering At Seat Orders.
- In First, they have updated the menu.
Both seem to have been well-received.
I like this statement from Mr. Whittingham.
We’ve tried to make it a more personalised service with a less rigid structure, so we give customers what they want, when they want it, rather than when we want to give it to them.
A Consistent Offer
This is a paragraph.
Mr. Whittingham says Avanti has not yet confirmed whether t will offer three classes of travel on the new Hitachi trains it has ordered, but says the aim is to provide a more consistent offer. Assisting this will be changes in the ongoing Pendolino refurbishment, where 11-car sets are having Coach G converted from First to Standard accommodation, meaning all Pendolinos, whether nine-car or 11-car, will have three coaches for First and Standard Premium passengers.
My instinct says that the four trains will be something like.
- Class 390 train – Pendolino – Nine-car – three First/Standard Premium cars – six Standard cars
- Class 390 train – Pendolino – Eleven-car – three First/Standard Premium cars – eight Standard cars
- Class 805 train – Hitachi – Five-car – one First/Standard Premium car – four Standard cars
- Class 807 train – Hitachi – Seven-car – two First/Standard Premium car – five Standard cars
Note.
- The Class 805 and Class 807 Hitachi trains are very much plug-and-play and can be lengthened or shortened as required.
- A regular passenger between London and Liverpool, who regularly upgrades from Standard to Standard Premium in a Class 390 train could be a bit miffed if he couldn’t, because the service was being run by a Class 807 train.
- Hitachi would probably be very happy to add extra cars to the Class 805 and Class 807 trains.
As the Class 390 Pendolino trains are being refurbished, I do wonder if they will be receiving some fittings from the Hitachi trains to make sure the trains are consistent to both on-board staff and passengers.
Pendolino Investment
The Pendolino refurbishment is comprehensive.
- It is one of the largest such programmes ever undertaken in the UK.
- Leasing company; Angel Trains are funding the work.
- Alstom are doing the work at Widnes.
- There appears to be a smooth plan to refurbish all trains.
- Coach G will be converted from First to Standard accommodation in eleven-car trains.
- Mr. Whittingham says that all trains will come out looking like a new train.
The eleven-car trains are being converted first, as the conversion of Coach G gives a capacity benefit of around thirty seats.
The awful seats in Standard Class will be replaced with Lumo-style seats and laptop-friendly fold-down tables.
These seats will be a big improvement!
New Trains Coming
This paragraph introduces the new trains.
The second major fleet investment from Avanti is the £350 million for new trains from Hitachi, financed by Rock Rail. These comprise 13×5-car Class 805 bi-modes, ordered for destinations off the electrified route including North Wales and Shrewsbury and 10×7-car Class 807 electrics. Deployment plans for the latter are still being worked through but are likely to include services to Birmingham and Liverpool, and potentially to Blackpool.
What is not said in this paragraph, is that all trains have a redesigned front end, which I suspect is more aerodynamic.
The all-electric Class 807 trains have no diesel engines or batteries, so have they been put on a diet, to improve the acceleration?
In Will Avanti West Coast’s New Trains Be Able To Achieve London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street In Two Hours?, I came to these conclusions.
- A two hour service between London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street will be possible with Avanti West Coast’s new Class 807 trains.
- The current Class 390 trains could go a bit faster and if they cut out a couple of stops could probably break two hours.
I also calculated that a two tph service between London and Liverpool in two hours would need nine trains.
Timetable Changes
This paragraph introduces the article’s section on timetable changes.
The project in turn feeds into a major timetable change planned by Avanti and other West Coast main line operators. This will be the first significant change to West Coast main line schedules since 2008; ‘the world has changed, and we need to think about how we best serve our markets’ says Mr Whittingham.
This paragraph sums up the major changes.
Of note are the planned changes to the pattern of London to West Midlands services; the pre-Covid 20-minute interval would be amended to offer faster journey times and greater connectivity. Also featuring in the new timetable aspirations would be additional Trent Valley calls in some Liverpool and Manchester services; Mr Whittingham cites as one benefit of this the potential for improved journey times between the North West and the East Midlands via a change of train at Nuneaton. The Hitachi trains, with their better acceleration, will be particularly useful on services with more frequent stops.
The next three sections will look at some timetable changes in a bit more detail.
London And West Midlands Services
Replacement of twenty diesel Class 221 trains with thirteen bi-mode Class 805 trains will mean a major reorganisation of services to the West Midlands.
- Some current diesel services will now be electric.
- All services between Birmingham New Street and Euston will now be electric.
- No services will run on diesel under live electrification.
- Avanti have promised to serve Walsall.
- There will be extra services to Shrewsbury and other places.
The electric services will also speed up some services to the West Midlands.
North West And East Midlands Services
I will look at train times for services between the North West (Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly) and the East Midlands (Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln), where passengers change at Nuneaton.
These are the current fastest possible times according to the National Rail journey planner.
- Liverpool Lime Street and Leicester -2:24 with changes at Crewe and Nuneaton,
- Manchester Piccadilly and Leicester – 2:11 with change at Sheffield
- Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham – 2:42 with no changes
- Manchester Piccadilly and Nottingham – 1:51 with no changes
- Liverpool Lime Street and Lincoln- 3:42 with changes at Sheffield and Doncaster
- Manchester Piccadilly and Lincoln – 2:38 with change at Sheffield
Note that times are in hours:minutes.
These are all current times for the various legs if the route is via Nuneaton.
- Avanti West Coast – Liverpool Lime Street and Nuneaton – 1:18
- Avanti West Coast – Manchester Piccadilly and Nuneaton – 1:13
- CrossCountry – Nuneaton and Leicester – 0:27
- East Midlands Railway – Leicester and Nottingham – 0:48 – Time from Leicester and Lincoln service.
- East Midlands Railway – Leicester and Nottingham – 0:20 – Time from St. Pancras and Nottingham service.
- East Midlands Railway – Leicester and Lincoln -1:42 – Time from Leicester and Lincoln service.
- East Midlands Railway – Nottingham and Lincoln -0:52 – Time from Leicester and Lincoln service.
Note that the two Avanti West Coast times have been estimated by taking the time from Real Time Trains and adding three minutes for the acceleration or deceleration at Nuneaton.
These would be possible times between the North West and the East Midlands via Nuneaton.
- Liverpool Lime Street and Leicester – 1:47
- Manchester Piccadilly and Leicester – 1:42
- Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham – 2:37
- Manchester Piccadilly and Nottingham – 2:32
- Liverpool Lime Street and Lincoln- 3:31
- Manchester Piccadilly and Lincoln – 3:26
Note that I am assuming changes at Nuneaton and Leicester are cross-platform or same platform changes that take two minutes.
But there is another level of improvement possible.
Suppose that East Midlands Railway’s Lincoln and Leicester service were to be extended to Nuneaton and run by a train with this specification.
- 125 mph operating speed.
- Battery-electric power.
- 100 mph operating speed on battery power.
- Range of 56 miles on battery
- Ability to use the Midland Main Line electrification, when it is erected.
Charging stations would be needed at Nuneaton and Lincoln.
These would be possible times between the North West and the East Midlands via Nuneaton with the one change at Nuneaton.
- Liverpool Lime Street and Leicester – 1:45
- Manchester Piccadilly and Leicester – 1:40
- Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham – 2:05
- Manchester Piccadilly and Nottingham – 2:00
- Liverpool Lime Street and Lincoln- 2:57
- Manchester Piccadilly and Lincoln – 2:52
Note.
I am assuming that the timings for the Nuneaton and Leicester and the Nottingham and Lincoln legs are as for the current trains.
I am assuming the change at Nuneaton is a cross-platform or same platform change that takes two minutes.
Trains run on battery where tracks are not electrified.
I can build a table of current times, times via Nuneaton and savings.
- Liverpool Lime Street and Leicester -2:24 – 1:45 – 0:39
- Manchester Piccadilly and Leicester – 2:11 – 1:40 – 0.31
- Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham – 2:42 – 2:05 – 0:37
- Manchester Piccadilly and Nottingham – 1:51 – 2:00 – 0.09 slower
- Liverpool Lime Street and Lincoln- 3:42 – 2:57 – 0.45
- Manchester Piccadilly and Lincoln – 2:38 – 2:52 – 0:14 slower
It does appear that by using the 125 mph speed of the West Coast Main Line has a positive effect on some times from the North West to the East Midlands.
But times could be reduced further.
- Installing full digital signalling, that would enable 140 mph running between Crewe and Nuneaton, could save ten minutes.
- Improving the Nuneaton and Leicester and the Nottingham and Lincoln legs could allow faster running.
The more I look at changing at Nuneaton, I feel it is a good idea.
- It improves the connections between East Midlands Parkway and Loughborough and the North West.
- It improves the connections between Cambridge, Peterborough and Stansted Airport and the North West, if the change at Nuneaton is to CrossCountry’s Stansted Airport and Birmingham New Street service.
- It improves the connections between Coventry and Leamington Spa and the North West.
Avanti have come up with a cunning plan, worthy of Baldrick at his best.
A Second Hourly Service Between London And Liverpool
A paragraph talks about the second hourly service between London and Liverpool.
Avanti still has ambitions to introduce a second hourly service between Euston and Liverpool, but when this will come in will depend on demand recovery.
Consider.
- If would be desirable if some or all trains running on the route could achieve a timing of two hours between London and Liverpool.
- It is felt that the second service should stop at Liverpool South Parkway station, where the platforms are too short for eleven-car Class 390 trains.
- Avanti have stated they would like more stops in the Trent Valley, especially at Nuneaton, where they would connect to services to the East Midlands.
- Nuneaton is almost exactly halfway between London and Liverpool.
- Running two tph with Class 807 trains would need nine trains and Avanti have only ordered ten in total.
I believe that a practical timetable like this could work.
- Class 390 train – one tph – Non-stop or perhaps a single stop in the Midlands – Under two hours
- Class 807 train – one tph – Stopping at Nuneaton, Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway – Current time or better
An hourly service between London and Liverpool in under two hours would surely be a passenger magnet.
The Anonymous Widower 