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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 following a determination by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body means the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by the rail operator from Manchester Piccadilly to the capital will continue to run but will exclusively serve to carry staff from the middle of December.

An operator representative stated they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these services".

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

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Details of the Operational Adjustments

The express train, which arrives in London in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester station 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 updated schedule takes effect on December 15th.

The ruling implies the service could run for more than 100 journeys without paying passengers on board.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the ORR's determination not to grant access rights from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, such as the 07:00 express train from London from Manchester.

The ORR also mandated a Sunday service which currently runs from London from Holyhead to terminate at Crewe, they noted.

"It will clearly impact those passengers who currently rely on these trains," they stated.

"Nonetheless, we will continue to provide even more services across our route system from the start of the December timetable, including further additional trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative verified that the services being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool station (Monday to Friday)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead station – London Euston terminates at Crewe station (Sunday)

Regulatory Reasoning

An ORR spokesperson explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester service was grounded in robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on performance.

"We identified that this service would operate within one of those paths. If the operator operates the train as empty coaching stock (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (held back or redirected) than a scheduled public train.

"This can assist with service reliability and service recovery during disruption."

The regulator indicated Avanti was earlier granted the right to run this service from May 2025 for the period of a single schedule cycle only.

This was on the condition that First Lumo's Stirling services were not running at the time but the First Lumo services are expected to begin running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR noted that under the new timetable, new open access train services, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.