🔗 Share this article

A rail route that carries daily travelers from Manchester to London is scheduled to run empty for around a five-month period due to a determination by the railway oversight authority.

A ruling by the rail regulatory body means the 07:00 GMT service run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to the capital will continue to run but will exclusively serve to carry staff starting mid-December.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson expressed they were "let down" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who already use these trains".

An ORR spokesperson explained the decision was based on "robust evidence" from Network Rail to prevent potential service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail declined to comment.

Specifics of the Service Changes

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

It will, instead, transport company employees from Manchester to London when the updated schedule takes effect on December 15th.

The ruling implies the service could run for more than 100 trips without fare-paying customers on board.

An operator representative clarified they were displeased with the ORR's determination not to approve operational permissions from December for four weekday services they presently run, such as the 07:00 fast service from Manchester to London.

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

"This will clearly impact those customers who currently rely on these services," they stated.

"However, we will still be delivering additional services across our route system from the beginning of the winter schedule, featuring more extra trains on our Liverpool route."

The spokesperson verified that the trains being withdrawn were:

• 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester station to London Euston (Monday to Friday)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool North – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 09:39 GMT: London Euston – Blackpool station (Weekdays)
• 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – London Euston (Weekdays)
• 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead – Euston station ends at Crewe station (Sundays)

Regulatory Rationale

An ORR official stated: "Our decision on the Manchester-London train was grounded in comprehensive data provided by Network Rail that introducing trains within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"It was determined that this train would run in one of those time slots. If the operator runs the train as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (held back or redirected) than a booked passenger service.

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

The ORR said the operator was previously given the right to operate this service from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period exclusively.

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

The ORR noted that under the new timetable, additional independent rail operations, run by the competing operator to Stirling, were scheduled to commence.