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National rail operator

Avanti West Coast

FirstGroup/Trenitalia inter-city operator on the West Coast Main Line, with through trains to the North Wales Coast and the Lakes; nationalisation due 2027.

  • BasedLondon and Birmingham
  • Founded2019
  • TractionElectric
Book with Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast Photo: G-13114, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Avanti West Coast has run inter-city services from London Euston to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, North Wales, the Lake District and Glasgow since December 2019. It is 70 per cent owned by FirstGroup and 30 per cent by Trenitalia; the Government has indicated it will be among the last operators taken into public ownership, currently expected in 2027.

For scenic travellers its relevance is the North Wales Coast Line, where Avanti's Class 805 bi-mode trains run from Euston to Bangor and Holyhead, and the through service from Euston to Oxenholme and Windermere. Its Pendolino trains climb Shap and cross Beattock summit on the way to Glasgow.

Avanti fares are valid on the Cumbria Travel Pass and on the North Wales Rover within its zones.