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A rail route transporting commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to operate without passengers for around a five-month period following a determination by the rail regulator.

A verdict by the Office of Rail and Road implies the 07:00 GMT service operated by the rail operator from Manchester's main station to London will still operate but will only be used to carry staff starting mid-December.

An operator spokesperson expressed they were "disappointed" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these trains".

An regulatory spokesperson indicated the decision was founded on "robust evidence" from the infrastructure manager to prevent possible operational issues on the West Coast Main Line.

The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.

Specifics of the Operational Adjustments

The fast service, which arrives in the capital in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not be available 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 service could run for over a hundred journeys without paying passengers on board.

An operator representative confirmed they were disappointed with the regulator's determination not to approve operational permissions from the winter period for several daily trains they presently run, such as the 07:00 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 added.

"It will clearly impact those customers who already use these services," they stated.

"Nonetheless, we will continue to provide even more services across our network from the start of the winter schedule, including more extra trains on our Liverpool line."

The representative confirmed that the trains being removed were:

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

Regulatory Reasoning

An ORR official stated: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester train was based on robust evidence provided by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'firebreak' paths on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"It was determined that this service would run in one of those paths. If Avanti runs the service as empty coaching stock (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (held back or redirected) than a booked passenger service.

"This can assist with performance management and operational restoration during disruption."

The ORR indicated Avanti was earlier granted the permission to operate this train from May 2025 for the duration of a single schedule cycle exclusively.

This was on the basis that First Lumo's Scottish trains were not operating at the time but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start operating during the December 2025 schedule update.

The regulatory body added that under the new timetable, new open access rail operations, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.