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Avanti West Coast

The intercity operator of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to the West Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool, North Wales, Blackpool and Scotland. It runs tilting Pendolinos and Hitachi's Evero trains, and is to pass into public ownership in March 2027.

2019Current operator since
814 miles (1,310 km)Route miles operated
48Stations served
36.3 millionJourneys a year, ORR (2025–26)

Facts

Current operator since
8 December 2019
London terminals
London Euston
Type
Intercity train operator
Depots
Oxley (Wolverhampton), where Hitachi and Alstom maintain the Evero trains, Alstom's depots in Wembley (London), Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, which with Oxley maintain the Pendolinos
Main routes
Euston to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh, via the Trent Valley or via Birmingham and Wolverhampton; to Birmingham and Wolverhampton; to Manchester Piccadilly, via Stoke-on-Trent or Crewe; to Liverpool Lime Street; to Blackpool North; and to Chester, Wrexham and the North Wales coast to Holyhead.
Stations managed
16
Operator
First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Ltd, owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%), under a National Rail Contract with the Department for Transport since 15 October 2023. It is to pass into public ownership on 7 March 2027.
Class 805 Evero, schematic side elevation, 2 cars
Class 805 Evero · Hitachi Rail, Newton Aycliffe
Class 807 Evero, schematic side elevation, 2 cars
Class 807 Evero · Hitachi Rail, Newton Aycliffe

Routes 8 routes · 48 stations

London Euston – Glasgow Central 19
London Euston – Glasgow Central: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central RugbyRugby NuneatonNuneaton TamworthTamworth Lichfield Trent ValleyLichfield Trent Valley StaffordStafford CreweCrewe Warrington Bank QuayWarrington Bank Quay Wigan North WesternWigan North Western PrestonPreston LancasterLancaster Oxenholme Lake DistrictOxenholme Lake District Penrith North LakesPenrith North Lakes CarlisleCarlisle LockerbieLockerbie MotherwellMotherwell Glasgow CentralGlasgow Central
London Euston – Edinburgh via Birmingham 22
London Euston – Edinburgh via Birmingham: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central NorthamptonNorthampton RugbyRugby CoventryCoventry Birmingham InternationalBirmingham International Birmingham New StreetBirmingham New Street Sandwell & DudleySandwell & Dudley WolverhamptonWolverhampton StaffordStafford CreweCrewe Warrington Bank QuayWarrington Bank Quay Wigan North WesternWigan North Western PrestonPreston LancasterLancaster Oxenholme Lake DistrictOxenholme Lake District Penrith North LakesPenrith North Lakes CarlisleCarlisle LockerbieLockerbie HaymarketHaymarket EdinburghEdinburgh
London Euston – Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent 12
London Euston – Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central RugbyRugby NuneatonNuneaton TamworthTamworth Lichfield Trent ValleyLichfield Trent Valley StaffordStafford Stoke-on-TrentStoke-on-Trent MacclesfieldMacclesfield StockportStockport Manchester PiccadillyManchester Piccadilly
London Euston – Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe 12
London Euston – Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central RugbyRugby NuneatonNuneaton TamworthTamworth Lichfield Trent ValleyLichfield Trent Valley StaffordStafford CreweCrewe WilmslowWilmslow StockportStockport Manchester PiccadillyManchester Piccadilly
London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street 13
London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central RugbyRugby NuneatonNuneaton TamworthTamworth Lichfield Trent ValleyLichfield Trent Valley StaffordStafford CreweCrewe HartfordHartford RuncornRuncorn Liverpool South ParkwayLiverpool South Parkway Liverpool Lime StreetLiverpool Lime Street
London Euston – Blackpool North 15
London Euston – Blackpool North: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Watford JunctionWatford Junction Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central RugbyRugby NuneatonNuneaton TamworthTamworth Lichfield Trent ValleyLichfield Trent Valley StaffordStafford CreweCrewe Warrington Bank QuayWarrington Bank Quay Wigan North WesternWigan North Western PrestonPreston Kirkham & WeshamKirkham & Wesham Poulton-le-FyldePoulton-le-Fylde Blackpool NorthBlackpool North
London Euston – Holyhead 12
London Euston – Holyhead: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central StaffordStafford CreweCrewe ChesterChester FlintFlint PrestatynPrestatyn RhylRhyl Colwyn BayColwyn Bay Llandudno JunctionLlandudno Junction BangorBangor HolyheadHolyhead
London Euston – Wrexham General 6
London Euston – Wrexham General: schematic, not to scale London EustonLondon Euston Milton Keynes CentralMilton Keynes Central StaffordStafford CreweCrewe ChesterChester Wrexham GeneralWrexham General

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stations are interchanges. Each strip is one service route with its stations in order, as the operator publishes them, entered by hand (see Sources); it doesn't show which trains call where.

StationZoneInterchanges
London Euston
Watford Junction
Milton Keynes Central
Rugby
Nuneaton
Tamworth
Lichfield Trent Valley
Stafford
Crewe
Warrington Bank Quay
Wigan North Western
Preston
Lancaster
Oxenholme Lake District
Penrith North Lakes
Carlisle
Lockerbie
Motherwell
Glasgow Central
Northampton
Coventry
Birmingham International
Birmingham New Street
Sandwell & Dudley
Wolverhampton
Haymarket
Edinburgh
Stoke-on-Trent
Macclesfield
Stockport
Manchester Piccadilly
Wilmslow
Hartford
Runcorn
Liverpool South Parkway
Liverpool Lime Street
Kirkham & Wesham
Poulton-le-Fylde
Blackpool North
Chester
Flint
Prestatyn
Rhyl
Colwyn Bay
Llandudno Junction
Bangor
Holyhead
Wrexham General

Stations from the operator’s published routes, entered by hand (see Sources).

Fleet

ClassUnitsFormation and notes
Class 390 Pendolino56Pendolino: 21 nine-car and 35 eleven-car
Class 805 Evero13Evero bi-mode, five-car
Class 807 Evero10Evero electric, seven-car

History 10

  1. 23 Hitachi trains are ordered, for more than £350 million: 13 five-car bi-modes and ten seven-car electrics, financed by Rock Rail.
  2. First Trenitalia's Avanti West Coast takes over the West Coast intercity trains.
  3. Alstom wins a £642 million contract to refurbish and maintain the 56 Pendolinos.
  4. A new National Rail Contract begins, with a core term of three years and up to nine years in all.
  5. The first Class 805 Evero carries passengers, between Crewe, London and Holyhead.
  6. The refurbishment of the Pendolinos is finished: the 11-car trains in 2023, the 9-car trains by the end of summer 2024.
  7. A Class 807 carries passengers for the first time, between Birmingham and London.
  8. The Class 807s start running between Liverpool and London, with more trains on the route.
  9. The last Class 221 Super Voyagers leave Avanti's service, replaced by the Everos.
  10. The government announces it will take over Avanti's services on 7 March 2027.

Sources 15

How we source figures →

unverified route strips: every station Avanti's December 2025 timetable book shows for each route, in line order; not every train calls at all of them, and which Trent Valley stations each route's trains serve isn't separated (TfL's route data for Avanti is left unused: it currently shows engineering diversions), stations: the 48 shown on the timetable book's route map, counted by hand, depots: as named when Alstom's contract was let in January 2020, the Office of Rail and Road still counted 25 diesel vehicles (five Class 221s) with Avanti on 31 March 2025, after the 221s had left passenger service