The Italian rail company, 30% owned by Trenitalia, has drastically reduced its intercity timetables and stopped selling tickets over the summer. Did. Avanti has suspended ticket sales for the trip from Sunday through September 11 while the new schedule is being worked out.
The company has been criticized for an ongoing staff shortage that has resulted in a reduction in services due to the current industrial relations situation and "unofficial strike action".
However, the Athref Union, which represents train drivers, said the strike had not taken place and Avanti did not employ enough drivers to meet the current timetable. said.
About 400 of the company's weekly services rely on overtime drivers and pay extra.
Avanti was forced to admit that the number of drivers working overtime had "dropped dramatically", limiting its ability to serve.
Labor's shadow transport secretary, Louise Hay, told Sky News that it was "disgraceful" that major cities were cut off and that the government's "unfortunate"
She said: ``This is shameful.
"This ill-fated government cannot continue to wash. They do not take responsibility and reward failure without consequences.
"It's time to put passengers first.
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"They demanded plans from the operators to restore these services urgently and to return the taxpayer's money to the
Sheffield-Healey MP, who also tweeted that it was "literally impossible to buy a ticket between major UK cities." 39}
Avanti argued:
The company announced that tickets for August 14-20 would be on sale by the end of the week. [reveals]
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Tickets for the following weeks will be released as per the week they claimed.
An Avanti spokesperson said "shortened timetables" have been introduced to allow passengers to travel "more reliably."
They said: In coordinated fashion, and short notice, our customers faced multiple short notice cancellations that severely impacted their plans.
, a shortened timetable has been introduced to ensure reliable service."
However, the move was influenced by local politics, which Avanti claims did not consult them.
In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shaps, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig said there was a risk of "extreme disruption and economic damage" if services were not restored.
They said it would affect the city's recovery from the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as those traveling to Notting His Hill His Carnival and Manchester His Pride. claimed.
