Almost a quarter of rail company's trains were cancelled over Christmas
Almost a quarter of a beleaguered rail company's trains in the West Midlands were cancelled at short notice over the festive period.
And just 44 per cent of Avanti West Coast's services in the region reached their destination on time.
The figures were described as 'not acceptable' by the region's elected mayor, Andy Street – just days after an MP called for a parliamentary debate on the company's performance.
Figures released by the company, which operates express services in the West Midlands, showed that 23.1 per cent of all its trains in the region were cancelled on the day they were due to depart. The figures relate to a four-week period from December 10 to January 6.
The figures also showed that just 44 per cent of its trains in the region arrived on time, although 64 per cent did get to their destination within three minutes of their scheduled time.
The figures show that of 1,039 scheduled services during the time period, 221 were cancelled on the same day. Of these, Avanti was deemed to be responsible for 156 of the cancellations – 65 per cent – with the remainder down to factors outside the company's control.
Last week Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons calling for a debate on Avanti's performance.
Mr Street, speaking to the Express & Star after a lunch with Black Country business leaders, said he shared Mr Kawczynski's concern.
"The Avanti service has been unacceptable for a while," said Mr Street.
"For customers that is just not acceptable.
"People need to be able to rely on that service if they are travelling for an important business meeting."
He said the performance of other operators in the region, including Chiltern Railways and West Midlands trains, were vastly superior.
Avanti has been approached for comment.
