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A train service that carries daily travelers from London from Manchester is scheduled to run empty for around a five-month period following a decision by the rail regulator.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body implies the 07:00 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 Avanti West Coast spokesperson expressed they were "disappointed" with the decision, which would "clearly impact those passengers who already use these trains".

An regulatory official indicated the judgment was founded on "robust evidence" from Network Rail to guard against possible operational issues on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail declined to comment.

Specifics of the Service Changes

The express train, which arrives in London in less than 120 minutes, will still depart from Manchester station at 7:00 AM on four weekdays, but will not open to the public.

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

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

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

The ORR also required a weekend train which currently runs from London from Holyhead to end at Crewe station, they noted.

"It will clearly impact those passengers who currently rely on these services," they said.

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

The spokesperson verified that the services being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool North – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 09:39 GMT: Euston station – Blackpool station (Monday to Friday)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead station – Euston station terminates at Crewe (Sundays)

Oversight Rationale

An ORR spokesperson explained: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester service was grounded in robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' slots on the main rail line would have a negative effect on performance.

"It was determined that this service would run in one of those paths. If the operator runs the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (delayed or re-routed) than a scheduled public train.

"This helps with performance management and service recovery during incidents."

The ORR indicated the operator was previously given the right to operate this service from May 2025 for the duration of one timetable period exclusively.

This was on the basis that another operator's Scottish trains were not operating at the moment but the First Lumo services are expected to begin running during the December 2025 schedule update.

The ORR added that under the updated schedule, additional independent train services, run by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.