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A rail route transporting commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to run empty for around five months due to a determination by the rail regulator.

A ruling by the rail regulatory body implies the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by the rail operator from Manchester's main station to the capital will continue to run but will exclusively serve to carry staff from mid-December.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson stated they were "let down" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these services".

An regulatory official explained the judgment was based on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent possible operational issues on the key rail corridor.

Network Rail declined to comment.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which arrives in London in under two hours, will continue to leave from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not open to the public.

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

The ruling implies the train could run for over a hundred journeys without fare-paying customers on the train.

An operator representative confirmed they were displeased with the regulator's determination not to approve operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 7:00 AM express train from London from Manchester.

The ORR also mandated a weekend train which presently operates from Holyhead to London to terminate at Crewe, they added.

"It will significantly affect those customers who already use these services," they stated.

"Nonetheless, we will continue to provide additional trains across our network from the beginning of the winter schedule, including further additional trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative verified that the trains being withdrawn were:

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

Regulatory Rationale

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

"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 re-routed) than a scheduled public train.

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

The ORR said the operator was earlier granted the right to operate this service from May 2025 for the duration of a single schedule cycle exclusively.

This was on the condition that First Lumo's Stirling services were not running at the time but the First Lumo services are expected to begin operating during the winter 2025 timetable period.

The regulatory body noted that under the updated schedule, new open access train services, operated by First Lumo to Stirling, were scheduled to commence.