Beat the Avanti West Coast cancellations – with a private first-class train

Travellers from London to Birmingham and Manchester who are struggling to find space on Avanti West Coast trains can instead enjoy first-class travel for the next four Friday evenings. A private operator is laying on a special train with a flat fare of £75.

The service is branded “The Friday Charter” and is run by Locomotive Services Group. The carriages are old British Rail Intercity Mk 3 stock, beloved by many rail enthusiasts for their comfort and panoramic windows. All the seating is three-abreast seating.

“Say goodbye to packed commuter trains and hello to luxurious leg room and cushioned comfort,” the operator says.

Each Friday at 5.27pm, between 19 August and 9 September, the 110mph train will depart from London Euston, calling at Birmingham (International and New Street), Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Wilmslow and Manchester Piccadilly.

Normally the Friday evening schedule from London Euston would be impossibly full. But until 11 September at the earliest, Avanti West Coast is cutting its normal frequency of every 20 minutes to both Manchester and Birmingham to just once per hour. The firm blames “the current industrial relations climate which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels”.

The rolling stock for the special train is normally stored at Crewe station in Cheshire. In order to be in place for the departure from Euston, it will leave Crewe on a nonstop run at 2.29pm.

Wifi will not be available, but mains power points are provided. The train includes two buffet cars. Unlike normal passenger trains, access for less able travellers is limited; only folding wheelchairs are accepted. There is also no discount for railcard holders.

The normal first-class fare from London to Manchester is £255 on Avnti West Coast; unlike the special train, this includes food and drink.

Mark Smith, the former British Rail who runs the Seat61.com international rail site, said: “It’s certainly an interesting – and unexpected – development that adds some capacity on a key route at a key time, and what’s not to like about British Rail’s spacious Mk 3 coaches?”

The last occasion when a charter train was used for scheduled services was in the summer of 2018, in the wake of the timetable fiasco. Northern could not run trains between Windermere and Oxenholme, and so West Coast Railway provided a steam-hauled shuttle into the Lake District national park.