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A train service that carries commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to operate without passengers for approximately five months following a decision by the railway oversight authority.

A ruling by the rail regulatory body implies the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to the capital will continue to run but will exclusively serve to carry employees from the middle of December.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson expressed they were "disappointed" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those passengers who already use these trains".

An ORR official explained the judgment was founded on "solid data" from Network Rail to prevent possible service disruption on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Service Changes

The fast service, which arrives in London in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on weekday mornings, but will not open to the public.

It will, instead, ferry Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the new timetable launches on December 15th.

The ruling means the train could run for more than 100 journeys without fare-paying customers on board.

An operator representative clarified they were disappointed with the ORR's decision not to grant access rights from December for several daily trains they currently operated, including the 07:00 fast service from London from Manchester.

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

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

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

The spokesperson verified that the trains being removed were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 09:39 GMT: Euston station – Blackpool North (Monday to Friday)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead station – London Euston ends at Crewe (Sundays)

Regulatory Reasoning

An regulatory official explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester train was based on comprehensive data provided by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' paths on the main rail line would have a negative effect on performance.

"We identified that this service would operate within one of those time slots. If the operator operates the train as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (held back or re-routed) than a booked passenger service.

"This can assist with service reliability and operational restoration during disruption."

The ORR said the operator was previously given the permission to run this train from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period only.

This was on the basis that First Lumo's Scottish trains were not operating at the moment but the those trains are anticipated to start running during the December 2025 schedule update.

The regulatory body added that under the updated schedule, additional independent rail operations, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.