Avanti West Coast

First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading asAvanti West Coast, is a British train operating company that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. The company is owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) but is in the process of being nationalised as part of the abolition of passenger rail franchising in Great Britain; Avanti West Coast routes will be taken over by Great British Railways by October 2027.

Avanti West Coast provides the principal long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. Its services connect six of the largest cities in the UK – London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh – which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18million.

Avanti West Coast began services in December 2019, at which time it inherited 56 Class 390 Pendolino high speed electric multiple units and 20 Class 221 Super Voyagerdiesel-electric multiple units from Virgin Trains. The 390s underwent major refurbishment between 2021 and 2024, and in 2024 the 221s were replaced with new Class 805bi-mode multiple units and Class 807 electric multiple units.