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A train service transporting daily travelers from London from Manchester is set to run empty for approximately five months due to a decision by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body means the 07:00 GMT train run by the rail operator from Manchester's main station to London will continue to run but will only be used to carry staff from mid-December.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson expressed they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "clearly impact those customers who already use these trains".

An ORR spokesperson indicated the judgment was founded on "solid data" from the infrastructure manager to guard against potential service disruption on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The express train, which arrives in the capital in under two hours, will continue to leave from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on weekday mornings, but will not be available to commuters.

It will, instead, transport Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the new timetable takes effect on December 15th.

The ruling implies the train could run for more than 100 journeys without fare-paying customers on the train.

An operator spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the ORR's decision not to approve access rights from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, including the 07:00 express train from London from Manchester.

The regulatory body also required a Sunday service which currently runs from London from Holyhead to terminate at Crewe, they noted.

"This will clearly impact those passengers who already use these trains," they said.

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

The representative confirmed that the trains being withdrawn were:

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

Regulatory Reasoning

An ORR spokesperson stated: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester train was grounded in robust evidence provided by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'firebreak' paths on the main rail line would have a negative effect on performance.

"We identified that this service would operate within 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 scheduled public train.

"This can assist with performance management and service recovery during incidents."

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

This was on the condition that another operator's Stirling services were not operating at the time but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start running during the December 2025 timetable period.

The regulatory body added that under the updated schedule, new open access train services, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.