Avanti West Coast

Our work with Avanti West Coast originally started in 2017 when Virgin Trains commissioned Direct Access to undertake access audits of all the Virgin-managed stations on the UK’s West Coast Mainline between London and Glasgow serving 35m passengers a year. 

Most of the buildings were Grade One listed with some Grade Two reflecting their significant historical interest in British transportation over the centuries. (Grade listed means no structural alterations are allowed).

Detailed reports were compiled for each station with action plans setting out recommended improvements in priority order. 

Virgin subsequently engaged Direct Access on a consultancy basis to provide support across their entire property portfolio. 

We introduced the first-ever Quiet Room for autistic travellers on the UK rail network at Crewe and Changing Places (specialist accessible toilet) facilities at Birmingham International. 

When First Group and Italian rail operator Trenitalia took over the franchise in 2019 as Avanti West Coast, Direct Access was retained to support the new rail operator. Triennial audits were completed and supported the installation of Changing Places facilities in additional stations.

Direct Access has since worked with Avanti to trial technological developments in different stations, including with the implementation of Tactile Braille Maps at Birmingham International and Coventry Station.