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A rail route that carries daily travelers from London from Manchester is set to run empty for around five months following a determination by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the Office of Rail and Road implies the 07:00 GMT service run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to London will continue to run but will exclusively serve to transport staff from mid-December.

An operator representative expressed they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "clearly impact those passengers who already use these services".

An regulatory official explained the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent potential service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

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

It will, alternatively, ferry Avanti staff from London from Manchester when the new timetable takes effect on December 15th.

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

An operator representative clarified they were disappointed with the ORR's decision not to grant operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 07:00 fast service from Manchester to London.

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

"It will significantly affect those passengers who already use these trains," they said.

"Nonetheless, we will continue to provide even more trains across our route system from the beginning of the December timetable, featuring more extra trains on our Liverpool line."

The spokesperson verified that the services being removed were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston (Weekdays)
• 12:52 GMT: Blackpool North – Euston station (Weekdays)
• 9:39 AM GMT: Euston station – Blackpool station (Monday to Friday)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester station – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead station – London Euston ends at Crewe (Sundays)

Oversight Reasoning

An ORR official explained: "Our ruling on the Manchester-London train was grounded in robust evidence submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a negative effect on reliability.

"It was determined that this train would run in one of those paths. If Avanti operates the train as empty coaching stock (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or re-routed) than a scheduled public train.

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

The regulator indicated the operator was earlier granted the right to operate this service from May 2025 for the duration of a single schedule cycle only.

This was on the condition that another operator's Scottish trains were not operating at the moment but the those trains are expected to begin operating during the winter 2025 timetable period.

The ORR added that under the new timetable, new open access train services, operated by First Lumo to Stirling, were due to start.