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A train service that carries daily travelers from Manchester to London is set to run empty for approximately a five-month period due to a determination by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body means the 7:00 AM GMT service run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to the capital will still operate but will only be used to carry employees from the middle of December.

An operator representative stated they were "let down" with the decision, which would "clearly impact those passengers who regularly take these services".

An regulatory official indicated the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent possible service disruption on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which arrives in the capital in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester station at 7:00 AM on four weekdays, but will not be available to the public.

It will, instead, transport Avanti staff from London from Manchester when the updated schedule launches on December 15th.

The ruling means the service could run for over a hundred trips without paying passengers on the train.

An operator representative confirmed they were displeased with the regulator's decision not to grant access rights from December for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 7:00 AM express train from Manchester to London.

The ORR also required a Sunday service which currently runs from London from Holyhead to terminate at Crewe station, they added.

"This will significantly affect those passengers who currently rely on these services," they stated.

"However, we will still be delivering additional services across our network from the start of the winter schedule, including more extra trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative verified that the services being removed were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester station to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool North – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 09:39 GMT: Euston station – Blackpool station (Weekdays)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead station – Euston station ends at Crewe (Sundays)

Regulatory Reasoning

An ORR spokesperson explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester train was grounded in comprehensive data submitted by Network Rail that introducing trains within 'firebreak' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on performance.

"We identified that this train would run in one of those paths. If the operator operates the train as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or redirected) than a scheduled public train.

"This can assist with performance management and operational restoration during incidents."

The regulator said the operator was previously given the permission to operate this train from spring 2025 for the duration of one timetable period exclusively.

This was on the basis that another operator's Stirling services were not operating at the time but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR noted that under the new timetable, new open access train services, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.