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A train service transporting daily travelers from London from Manchester is scheduled to run empty for approximately a five-month period following a determination by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body implies the 7:00 AM GMT train run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to London will still operate but will only be used to carry employees from mid-December.

An operator representative expressed they were "disappointed" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those passengers who regularly take these trains".

An ORR spokesperson indicated the judgment was founded on "solid data" from the infrastructure manager to prevent potential service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

The infrastructure company declined to comment.

Details of the Service Changes

The express train, which arrives in London in less than 120 minutes, will still depart from Manchester station at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not be available to the public.

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

The decision implies the service could operate for over a hundred journeys without fare-paying customers on board.

An Avanti West Coast representative confirmed they were disappointed with the ORR's decision not to grant operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, such as the 7:00 AM express train from London from Manchester.

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

"It will clearly impact those customers who already use these services," they stated.

"However, we will continue to provide even more trains across our network from the start of the winter schedule, featuring more extra trains on our Liverpool line."

The spokesperson verified that the services being withdrawn were:

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

Regulatory Rationale

An regulatory official explained: "Our decision on the Manchester-London service was based on robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"It was determined that this service would run in one of those time slots. If Avanti runs the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (held back or re-routed) than a booked passenger service.

"This helps with service reliability and service recovery during incidents."

The regulator indicated the operator was previously given the right to run this service from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period only.

This was on the basis that another operator's Scottish trains were not operating at the time but the those trains are anticipated to start running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The regulatory body added that under the new timetable, additional independent train services, run by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were scheduled to commence.