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A rail route that carries commuters from Manchester to London is scheduled to run empty for around five months following a decision by the rail regulator.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body means the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by the rail operator from Manchester's main station to the capital will continue to run but will only be used to transport employees starting mid-December.

An operator representative expressed they were "disappointed" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those passengers who regularly take these services".

An regulatory official indicated the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from Network Rail to guard against potential operational issues on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Details of the Service Changes

The express train, which arrives in London in less than 120 minutes, will still depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 7:00 AM on weekday mornings, but will not be available to the public.

It will, alternatively, ferry Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the new timetable takes effect on 15 December.

The decision means the train could run for over a hundred journeys without fare-paying customers on the train.

An Avanti West Coast representative clarified they were displeased with the regulator's determination not to grant operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, such as the 7:00 AM express train from Manchester to London.

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

"This will significantly affect those passengers who already use these services," they stated.

"However, we will continue to provide additional trains across our network from the start of the winter schedule, featuring further additional trains on our Liverpool line."

The spokesperson confirmed that the services being withdrawn were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester station to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 9:39 AM GMT: Euston station – Blackpool station (Weekdays)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester station – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead – London Euston terminates at Crewe (Sunday)

Regulatory Reasoning

An ORR official stated: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester service was grounded in robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that adding services within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"We identified that this service would run in one of those time slots. If the operator runs the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (delayed or redirected) than a booked passenger service.

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

The ORR indicated Avanti was earlier granted the right to operate this service from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period exclusively.

This was on the condition that another operator's Scottish trains were not running at the moment but the First Lumo services are expected to begin operating during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR added that under the new timetable, additional independent train services, run by First Lumo to Stirling, were due to start.