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

A verdict by the Office of Rail and Road means the 7:00 AM GMT service run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to London will continue to run but will only be used to carry employees starting mid-December.

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

An regulatory spokesperson indicated the decision was founded on "solid data" from Network Rail to guard against potential service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

The infrastructure company declined to comment.

Specifics of the Service Changes

The fast service, which reaches London in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not be available to commuters.

It will, instead, transport Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the updated schedule launches on December 15th.

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

An operator spokesperson confirmed they were disappointed with the regulator's determination not to grant access rights from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, such as the 7:00 AM fast service from Manchester to London.

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

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

"However, we will still be delivering additional trains across our network from the beginning of the December timetable, including further additional trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative verified that the trains being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool North – Euston station (Weekdays)
• 09:39 GMT: Euston station – Blackpool North (Weekdays)
• 19:32 GMT: Chester station – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead – London Euston terminates at Crewe (Sundays)

Regulatory Reasoning

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

"We identified that this service would operate within one of those paths. If Avanti operates the train as empty coaching stock (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or redirected) than a scheduled public train.

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

The regulator indicated the operator was earlier granted the permission to run this service from May 2025 for the period of a single schedule cycle only.

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 timetable period.

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