Avanti West Coast knows it needs to be "wooing" customers back to its services after a "disastrous underperformance", a transport minister has said.
Jesse Norman said the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government believes the train operator is taking the necessary steps to make improvements as he faced a wave of criticism in the House of Commons over the decision to renew the contract.
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", while Tory former cabinet minister David Jones said the decision will be "very badly received" by passengers in north Wales.
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READ MORE: Avanti West Coast awarded nine-year contract after 'significant improvements'
SNP transport spokesman Gavin Newlands accused the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government of "rewarding failure", adding: "Is it not time to follow Scotland’s lead and put our railway back into the public sector where it belongs?
Avanti runs trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central, with branches to Birmingham, north Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. Its new deal has a maximum length of nine years, but can be axed after three years.
The operator was previously given two consecutive six-month contracts and ordered to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance on vital routes, which was largely attributed to drivers refusing to work paid overtime shifts.
Conservative MP Greg Smith acknowledged comments made by Mr Norman about improvements by Avanti, but added: "The failures of Avanti in recent years have led to consumers voting with their feet and refusing to use Avanti services where they can – in the case of Birmingham to London, coming on to the Chiltern line instead, adding to the overcrowding on the Chiltern line.
"So what reassurance can he give that within this new contract there are incentives for Avanti to win that trust back so that we’re not maintaining overcrowding on other railways, such as Chiltern?"
Mr Norman replied: "He's spot on and it’s very noticeable how much the new team at Avanti recognises the commercial challenge of wooing back customers whom the disastrous underperformance of last year – which they recognise and they understand and they accept – has lost.
"That is a vital commercial challenge. We judge they are beginning to meet that and doing more than beginning to meet that as a matter of service, there is much further to go in regards the extension of the quality of the service, they recognise that and that is all in the interests of customers and better customer experience."
But Labour's Mr Amesbury said: "It seems that this contract has been rewarded on the basis that it’s a little less crap than it used to be. Is that really the way to make a decision in Government?"
Former Welsh secretary Mr Jones said: "It pains me to say it but I have to tell (Mr Norman) that the decision his department has made today will be very badly received in north Wales.
"North Wales passengers have had to endure a substandard service from Avanti for far too long and the prime example of that was this summer at the height of the holiday season, which is so important to north Wales, Avanti decided to cut four services and also provided virtually no through services from London to the region.
"Can (Mr Norman) assure the House that his department will be keeping a very close eye on Avanti’s performance in north Wales over the coming months and years and that, if necessary, they will terminate the franchise that has been confirmed today?"
Mr Norman said the Department for Transport will "remain very focused on continuing to hold this company to account" for its services.
The new deal was announced after the department placed Avanti West Coast on two consecutive short-term, six-month contracts and ordered it to develop a recovery plan aimed at addressing poor performance on vital routes – including between Manchester, Birmingham and London.
At the start of 2023, BusinessLive reported that Avanti West Coast had handed £13.5m to its shareholders during its latest financial year. The train operator, which is jointly owned by FirstGroup and Italian rail firm Trenitalia, increased the payment in the 12 months to March 31, 2022 from £11.5m.
The accounts were published as new figures revealed in January that complaints in Avanti's services were almost ten times the national average.
The Companies House documents also showed Avanti's turnover increased from £894.8m to £978.2m in the year while its re-tax profits dipped from £16.6m to £12.3m. The firm added that passenger volumes grew in the year from £140.1m to £591.3m.
Avanti took over the running of the west coast mainline from Virgin Trains in December 2019 and is 70% owned by FirstGroup and 30% owned by Trenitalia.
