Avanti West Coast described taxpayer funding as ‘free money’
The train operator apologised after displaying the message to on a presentation slide.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Avanti West Coast described taxpayer funding as “free money” during an internal meeting with managers.
The train operator apologised after displaying the message on a presentation slide.
Novara Media, which first reported the incident, said the meeting happened on January 12 and was attended by managing director Andy Mellors.
The language used in this presentation was regrettable
It published an image showing a slide with the title: “Roll-up, roll-up get your free money here!”.
Another slide explained how train operators are paid bonuses by the Government even if services are not run completely to schedule, under the service quality regime (SQR).
This included the statement: “Sound too good to be true? Well on this occasion – it isn’t – it’s the absolute truth!”
In September last year, Avanti West Coast’s operating contact was renewed by the Department for Transport for up to nine years, with Transport Secretary Mark Harper claiming it was “back on track” following major disruption.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told Novara Media: “Avanti is one of the worst rail companies in terms of performance and how it treats rail staff.
“For senior management to produce a PowerPoint slide bragging about the Government paying them public money is a disgrace.
“The Government has the mandate over Avanti and should never have given them a long-term nine-year contract award.
“The fact that the company feels emboldened to boast that they get ‘free money’ is down to the ridiculous system of rail ownership in this country.
“Ultimately profit driven companies who receive huge public subsidies have failed to deliver for railway workers and passengers alike. And that’s why we need public ownership of the entire network.”
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “This does not represent Avanti West Coast’s view of the service quality regime and was an isolated incident.
“These slides were an attempt to explain how the SQR works to some of our colleagues, but the language used in this presentation was regrettable and we apologise for this.
“The service quality regime is a robust and independent audit which we take very seriously.
“It has been demonstrated to hold us to account to drive up standards as we strive to continually improve our customer service.”