Under-fire Avanti West Coast in 'last chance saloon' says Andy Burnham as boss quits

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham says under-fire Avanti West Coast is in 'the last chance saloon' after its boss stepped down. Phil Whittingham, the train operator's managing director, will leave his post on September 15.

The company has been subject to severe criticism from passengers and politicians after slashing its timetabled services. Last week Mr Burnham said he would call for Avanti's contract to be terminated unless it restores full services across Greater Manchester.

He spoke of reports of passengers caught up in 'dangerous stampedes' for Manchester-bound trains at London Euston as he issued the operator with an ultimatum over a return to its original timetable. Avanti is currently operating a much-reduced service with one train an hour running between London and Manchester.

Last week, Mr Burnham called for an action plan from Avanti. Such a plan, he says, has not been received.

Mr Burnham said today (Saturday, September 3): "Avanti West Coast has failed to deliver on their commitment to explain how they will restore services between Manchester and London and failed to bring the stability to the timetable which they promised. Every day that this continues is a day of damage to the Greater Manchester economy and it cannot be allowed to continue.

“Weeks ago, the company tried to blame their workers for the problems. However, their inability to produce a rescue plan by the deadline we set has flushed out the truth - it is managers, not the workers, who are responsible for the chaos. In their desperation to blame the unions for everything, the government has let this company off the hook and let passengers down.

“This is a company being paid millions of pounds to operate trains on the West Coast Main Line but