I am astonished, like many of you, that Avanti have been awarded another six months on their contract.

I have been consistently transparent with my opinions on Avanti, and when ITV put a camera in front of me after my recent chaotic journey down from Lancashire, on the same day their contract was extended, I didn’t hold back stating that Avanti couldn’t run a bath let alone a mainline train service!

I took the opportunity to raise this directly to the Secretary of State for Transport, telling him that the announcement of the contract extension has been met with anger by many of you. I have to say that Avanti really did take the biscuit this week when they even managed to serve mouldy food in its on-board shop. What on earth Avanti has to do, other than be the worst-performing rail operator in the country, to actually lose the contract?

Predictably, I was met with excuses from the Secretary of State, although he did admit that Avanti are ‘far from being up there with the best performing train operating companies’.

This service needs to be brought back into public ownership. I am determined to continue raising the alarm about Avanti and their poor services, and so as ever, please feel free to contact me any time at cat.smith.mp@parliament.uk to share your experiences on this.