🔗 Share this article London-bound Manchester Rail Service to Run Without Passengers Train company characterizes the oversight body's ruling as "unsatisfactory" A train service transporting commuters from London from Manchester is scheduled to operate without passengers for approximately five months following a decision by the railway oversight authority. A verdict by the Office of Rail and Road means the 07:00 GMT service operated by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to London will still operate but will exclusively serve to carry employees starting mid-December. An operator spokesperson expressed they were "let down" with the outcome, which would "clearly impact those passengers who regularly take these services". An regulatory official explained the judgment was based on "solid data" from Network Rail to prevent potential operational issues on the key rail corridor. The infrastructure company declined to comment. Specifics of the Service Changes The express train, which reaches London in under two hours, will still depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on weekday mornings, but will not open to the public. It will, instead, ferry Avanti staff from London from Manchester when the updated schedule takes effect on December 15th. The decision means the train could operate for over a hundred journeys without paying passengers on board. An operator spokesperson confirmed they were displeased with the ORR's decision not to approve operational permissions from December for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 07:00 fast service from Manchester to London. The ORR also mandated a Sunday service which presently operates from London from Holyhead to end at Crewe station, they noted. "It will clearly impact those customers who already use these services," they stated. "However, we will continue to provide additional trains across our route system from the start of the winter schedule, including further additional trains on our Liverpool line." The spokesperson confirmed that the services being removed were: 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester station to London Euston (Weekdays) 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – Euston station (Monday to Friday) 09:39 GMT: London Euston – Blackpool North (Weekdays) 19:32 GMT: Chester – London Euston (Weekdays) 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead station – Euston station terminates at Crewe station (Sunday) Regulatory Reasoning An ORR spokesperson explained: "Our decision on the London-Manchester service was grounded in comprehensive data provided by Network Rail that adding services within 'firebreak' paths on the main rail line would have a detrimental impact on performance. "It was determined that this train would run in one of those paths. If Avanti operates the train as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (held back or re-routed) than a booked passenger service. "This can assist with performance management and service recovery during disruption." The ORR indicated the operator was previously given the permission to run this service from May 2025 for the period of one timetable period exclusively. This was on the condition that another operator's Stirling services were not running at the time but the First Lumo services are anticipated to start operating during the December 2025 schedule update. The regulatory body noted that under the new timetable, additional independent rail operations, operated by the competing operator to Stirling, were scheduled to commence.