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A rail route transporting commuters from London from Manchester is set 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 implies the 7:00 AM GMT train operated by the rail operator from Manchester Piccadilly to the capital will continue to run but will exclusively serve to carry employees from the middle of December.

An Avanti West Coast representative expressed they were "disappointed" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these trains".

An regulatory official explained the decision was based on "solid data" from Network Rail to guard against possible service disruption on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail did not provide a statement.

Details of the Service Changes

The fast service, which reaches the capital 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 London from Manchester when the updated schedule launches on 15 December.

The decision implies the train could operate for over a hundred journeys without fare-paying customers on board.

An operator spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the ORR's decision not to approve access rights from December for several daily trains they currently operated, including the 07:00 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 noted.

"This will significantly affect those customers who currently rely on these services," they said.

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

The representative confirmed that the trains being withdrawn were:

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

Regulatory Rationale

An ORR spokesperson explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester train was based on comprehensive data submitted by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a negative effect on performance.

"It was determined that this train would operate within one of those time slots. If the operator runs the train as empty coaching stock (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (delayed or redirected) than a scheduled public train.

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

The regulator indicated the operator was previously given the right to run this train from spring 2025 for the period of a single schedule cycle exclusively.

This was on the condition that another operator's Scottish trains were not operating at the time but the those trains are expected to begin running during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR added that under the updated schedule, additional independent rail operations, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were scheduled to commence.