FAILING rail company Avanti is being lined up for a swift nationalisation.
The operator is in the sights of Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who is fed up with its abysmal service and endless disruptions for passengers.
She is seeking legal advice as she pores over its contract to find breaches that will allow it to be brought back into public hands.
Ms Haigh hauled the firm’s boss in for talks this week, and said: “I made very clear that we wouldn’t tolerate the levels of performance that they’ve been providing on the West Coast for any longer.”
Avanti has run West Coast main line services connecting London to Glasgow, Birmingham, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh since 2016.
But it is the third worst for reliability of all rail companies in Britain.
All operators will eventually be nationalised as their contracts run out under Labour plans announced in the King’s Speech this week.
Govia Thameslink Railway and Chiltern should be the first to go in April next year.
But Avanti’s ten-year contract may be cut short before then.
Ms Haigh warned: “They can do better even whilst in the private sector.”
Avanti had the third worst reliability of all operators in Britain in the year to the end of March, with the equivalent of one in 15 trains cancelled.