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A train service transporting commuters from Manchester to London is scheduled to operate without passengers for approximately a five-month period following a decision by the rail regulator.

A ruling by the Office of Rail and Road means the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to London will still operate but will only be used to carry staff from the middle of December.

An Avanti West Coast representative stated they were "disappointed" with the decision, which would "clearly impact those passengers who regularly take these services".

An ORR official explained the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from Network Rail to prevent potential operational issues on the key rail corridor.

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which reaches the capital in less than 120 minutes, will continue to leave from Manchester station at 07:00 on weekday mornings, but will not be available to commuters.

It will, instead, transport company employees from Manchester to London when the new timetable takes effect on 15 December.

The decision means the service could run for over a hundred journeys without paying passengers on board.

An operator spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the regulator's determination not to grant access rights from December for several daily trains they currently operated, such as the 07:00 fast service from London from Manchester.

The ORR also mandated a weekend train which presently operates from London from Holyhead to terminate at Crewe station, they noted.

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

"However, we will still be delivering even more trains across our network from the beginning of the winter schedule, featuring further additional trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative verified that the services being removed were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 09:39 GMT: Euston station – Blackpool station (Weekdays)
• 19:32 GMT: Chester – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead station – London Euston ends at Crewe (Sundays)

Oversight Rationale

An ORR official explained: "Our ruling on the Manchester-London service was grounded in comprehensive data provided by Network Rail that introducing trains within 'buffer' paths on the main rail line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"We identified that this train would run in one of those time slots. If the operator runs the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (held back or redirected) than a booked passenger service.

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

The ORR said Avanti was earlier granted the right to run this service from spring 2025 for the duration of one timetable period only.

This was on the basis that another operator's Scottish trains were not running at the moment but the those trains are expected to begin operating during the December 2025 timetable period.

The ORR noted that under the updated schedule, additional independent rail operations, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, were due to start.