Avanti West Coast to introduce additional services to Manchester and the West Midlands

• West Coast Main Line operator to run more services from Monday 28 February
• Manchester and Birmingham to get second hourly service to and from London
• Further timetable uplift planned for May 2022

Avanti West Coast (AWC) will be increasing service levels from next week as part of changes to its current timetable and in response to increased demand.

With passengers returning to rail, the Manchester and West Midlands routes will see the addition of a second hourly service to and from London Euston. This will increase the AWC operation to six trains per hour on the West Coast Main Line. From Monday 28 February, the operator will be running the following:

• Two services to Manchester Piccadilly;
• Two services to Birmingham New Street with one service continuing in alternate hours to Blackpool/ Preston and Edinburgh;
• One service to Glasgow Central; and
• One service to Liverpool Lime Street.

North Wales will also get a second direct daily service to / from London in addition to a shuttle service between Holyhead and Crewe. Shrewsbury and Wrexham will both be served by one return service per day.

This will be followed by a further timetable change scheduled to take place on Sunday 15 May, when an additional uplift to the number of services on the network is planned.

Phil Whittingham, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast added: “As Covid restrictions are eased and people are returning to rail, we are pleased to announce a phased increase in service levels in line with demand.

“Avanti West Coast remains committed to supporting the ongoing recovery of our economy and the communities we serve, whilst enabling our customers to travel with confidence. We will continue to monitor demand and work with governments and industry partners to ensure we strike the right balance between connectivity and value for money for taxpayers.”