Customers say they are STILL struggling for tickets as the clock ticks on Avanti West Coast

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

More than two months after Avanti West Coast announced it was stripping back its Manchester timetable, passengers are still facing difficulties. The company which runs services between Piccadilly and London Euston was given six months to improve by the Government last week.

Bosses at Avanti West Coast freely admit the operator is not living up to passengers' expectations at the moment. When the timetable was cut down to one service an hour between Manchester and London in August, it also suspended ticket sales, with customers told several services were 'sold out'.

Now, passengers are still struggling to plan journeys. A handful of direct services between Manchester and London over the next week are listed as 'sold out' on Avanti's website.

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From October 22 to 30, direct ticket sales between the two cities are currently unavailable. Meanwhile, from late October and throughout November, weekend tickets are unavailable - and while additional services are being listed on weekdays, they are currently described as 'sold out'.

The Manchester Evening News understands that tickets for October 24 to 28 are due to be released tomorrow (October 12), with services set to be affected by engineering works in the midlands on that week and the weekends either side of it. For services from October 31 onwards, Avanti is expected to confirm its weekday timetable by the end of this month, while the company says it is 'working hard to make weekend travel dates available as far in advance as possible'.

It's not only services between Manchester and London that are affected, and customers have been growing frustrated. On Twitter, @wendynatale