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A train service that carries commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to run empty for around a five-month period due to a determination by the railway oversight authority.

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

An operator representative stated they were "let down" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those passengers who regularly take these services".

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

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The express train, which reaches London in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester station at 7:00 AM on weekday mornings, but will not be available to commuters.

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

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

An operator representative confirmed they were disappointed with the ORR's decision not to grant access rights from the winter period for four weekday services they currently operated, such as the 07:00 fast service from London from Manchester.

The regulatory body also mandated a weekend train which currently runs from Holyhead to London to terminate at Crewe station, they added.

"This will significantly affect those passengers who already use these services," they stated.

"However, we will continue to provide additional trains across our network from the beginning of the December timetable, featuring further additional trains on our Liverpool route."

The representative confirmed that the trains being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester station to London Euston (Weekdays)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool North – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 09:39 GMT: London Euston – Blackpool station (Weekdays)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead – London Euston terminates at Crewe (Sundays)

Oversight Reasoning

An ORR official explained: "Our ruling on the Manchester-London service was based on robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that adding services within 'firebreak' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on performance.

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

"This helps with performance management and operational restoration during disruption."

The ORR indicated the operator was previously given the permission to run this service from May 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 moment but the those trains are expected to begin running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR noted that under the updated schedule, new open access train services, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, were scheduled to commence.