Manchester to London Train to Operate Devoid of Passengers
A rail route transporting daily travelers from Manchester to London is set to run empty for approximately five months following a determination by the rail regulator.
A ruling by the rail regulatory body implies the 07:00 GMT train run by Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to the capital will still operate but will only be used to carry staff starting the middle of December.
An operator representative stated they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "definitely affect those passengers who already use these services".
An regulatory official indicated the judgment was based on "solid data" from Network Rail to prevent possible operational issues on the West Coast Main Line.
The infrastructure company did not provide a statement.
Specifics of the Service Changes
The express train, which reaches London in under two hours, will continue to leave from Manchester station at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not be available to commuters.
It will, alternatively, transport Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the new timetable launches on 15 December.
The decision implies the service could operate for more than 100 trips without fare-paying customers on board.
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson confirmed they were disappointed with the regulator's decision not to approve access rights from the winter period for several daily trains they currently operated, such as the 07:00 fast service from London from Manchester.
The ORR also mandated a weekend train which currently runs from London from Holyhead to terminate at Crewe, they noted.
"This will clearly impact those passengers who already use these trains," they said.
"Nonetheless, we will continue to provide even more trains across our route system from the start of the December timetable, including more extra trains on our Liverpool line."
The representative confirmed that the services being withdrawn were:
- 07:00 GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston (Monday to Friday)
- 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool North – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
- 9:39 AM GMT: Euston station – Blackpool North (Monday to Friday)
- 19:32 GMT: Chester station – Euston station (Weekdays)
- 17:53 GMT: Holyhead – London Euston ends at Crewe station (Sundays)
Regulatory Reasoning
An ORR spokesperson stated: "Our decision on the Manchester-London service was based on comprehensive data provided by the infrastructure operator that introducing trains within 'buffer' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on performance.
"We identified that this service would run in one of those time slots. If Avanti operates the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or re-routed) than a scheduled public train.
"This helps with performance management and service recovery during incidents."
The regulator indicated Avanti was previously given the right 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 running at the moment but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start running during the December 2025 timetable period.
The ORR noted that under the updated schedule, additional independent train services, run by the competing operator to Stirling, Scotland, were due to start.
