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A rail route that carries commuters from Manchester to London is set to run empty for around a five-month period due to a decision by the rail regulator.

A verdict by the Office of Rail and Road means the 07:00 GMT train run by the rail operator from Manchester Piccadilly to London will continue to run but will only be used to carry employees starting the middle of December.

An Avanti West Coast representative expressed they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "clearly impact those passengers who regularly take these trains".

An ORR spokesperson indicated the decision was based on "solid data" from the infrastructure manager to guard against possible service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Details of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which arrives in the capital in less than 120 minutes, will continue to leave from Manchester Piccadilly at 7:00 AM on weekday mornings, but will not be available to the public.

It will, alternatively, transport company employees from Manchester to London when the updated schedule launches on 15 December.

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

An operator spokesperson confirmed they were displeased with the regulator's determination not to approve access rights from the winter period for several daily trains they presently run, including the 7:00 AM fast service from London from Manchester.

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

"This will clearly impact those customers who already use these trains," they stated.

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

The spokesperson confirmed that the trains being withdrawn were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool North (Monday to Friday)
• 19:32 GMT: Chester station – Euston station (Weekdays)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead station – Euston station terminates at Crewe station (Sunday)

Oversight Rationale

An regulatory spokesperson explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester service was grounded in robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that adding services within 'buffer' paths on the main rail line would have a negative effect on performance.

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

"This can assist with service reliability and service recovery during incidents."

The regulator indicated Avanti was earlier granted the right to operate this train from May 2025 for the duration of one timetable period exclusively.

This was on the condition that First Lumo's Stirling services were not running at the time but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The regulatory body noted that under the new timetable, additional independent rail operations, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were scheduled to commence.