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A train service that carries daily travelers from Manchester to London is scheduled to operate without passengers for approximately a five-month period due to a determination by the rail regulator.

A ruling by the Office of Rail and Road implies the 7:00 AM GMT service operated by Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to London will continue to run but will exclusively serve to transport employees starting the middle of December.

An operator spokesperson stated they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those passengers who already use these trains".

An regulatory spokesperson explained the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent possible operational issues on the West Coast Main Line.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which reaches London in less than 120 minutes, will still depart from Manchester station at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not open to commuters.

It will, alternatively, transport company employees from London from Manchester when the new timetable launches on 15 December.

The ruling implies the train could operate for over a hundred trips without paying passengers on board.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the ORR's decision not to grant operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 7:00 AM express train from London from Manchester.

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

"It will significantly affect those passengers who currently rely on these trains," they said.

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

The representative verified that the services being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester station to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool station – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool station (Monday to Friday)
• 19:32 GMT: Chester station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead station – London Euston ends at Crewe (Sundays)

Oversight Rationale

An regulatory spokesperson explained: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester service was based on comprehensive data submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' slots 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 paths. If the operator operates the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or redirected) than a scheduled public train.

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

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

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

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