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A rail route that carries commuters from London from Manchester is set to run empty for approximately five months following a determination by the rail regulator.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body implies the 7:00 AM GMT service operated by the rail operator from Manchester Piccadilly to the capital will still operate but will exclusively serve to transport staff starting mid-December.

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

An ORR spokesperson explained the judgment was based on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent potential service disruption on the key rail corridor.

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Details of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which arrives in the capital in under two hours, will continue to leave from Manchester station at 7:00 AM on weekday mornings, but will not be available to commuters.

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

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

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson confirmed they were disappointed with the regulator'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 Manchester to London.

The regulatory body also mandated a weekend train which presently operates from Holyhead to London to terminate at Crewe station, they noted.

"This will clearly impact those passengers who currently rely on these trains," they stated.

"Nonetheless, we will still be delivering even more trains across our network from the beginning of the winter schedule, including further additional trains on our Liverpool route."

The representative confirmed that the services being removed were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester station to London Euston (Weekdays)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool North (Weekdays)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead – Euston station terminates at Crewe (Sunday)

Regulatory Reasoning

An regulatory spokesperson stated: "Our ruling on the Manchester-London service was grounded in comprehensive data submitted by Network Rail that introducing trains within 'buffer' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a negative effect on reliability.

"We identified that this train would run in one of those time slots. If Avanti runs the service as empty coaching stock (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 regulator said Avanti was earlier granted the right to operate this service from May 2025 for the period of a single schedule cycle only.

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

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