The Government plans to take Avanti West Coast into public ownership when its current franchise expires in March, at what Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called the “earliest possible opportunity”. She said the operator had underperformed for years and passengers had paid the price, as Labour advances its rail nationalisation programme.

Avanti runs services from London to the North West, Scotland, the West Midlands and North Wales. The article says it had Britain’s highest cancellation rate this summer, at twice the national average; Alexander is due to address Labour’s annual conference on Monday.