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A train service that carries commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to operate without passengers for around five months due to a decision by the rail regulator.

A ruling by the Office of Rail and Road 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 employees from mid-December.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson stated they were "disappointed" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these trains".

An regulatory spokesperson explained the judgment was founded on "solid data" from Network Rail to guard against potential service disruption on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Service Changes

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

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

The decision means the service could operate for more than 100 journeys without paying passengers on the train.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson confirmed they were disappointed with the ORR's decision not to approve operational permissions from December for several daily trains they currently operated, including the 07:00 fast service from Manchester to London.

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

"This will clearly impact those customers who currently rely on these trains," they stated.

"Nonetheless, we will still be delivering even more services across our network from the start of the winter schedule, including further additional trains on our Liverpool route."

The representative confirmed that the services being removed were:

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

Regulatory Reasoning

An regulatory spokesperson stated: "Our decision on the Manchester-London service was based on comprehensive data provided by the infrastructure operator that adding services within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a negative effect on performance.

"It was determined that this train would operate within 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 re-routed) than a scheduled public train.

"This helps with service reliability and service recovery 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 First Lumo's Stirling services were not operating at the time but the those trains are expected to begin running during the winter 2025 timetable period.

The ORR added that under the new timetable, new open access train services, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were scheduled to commence.