🔗 Share this article London-bound Manchester Train to Run Devoid of Commuters Train company characterizes the oversight body's ruling as "unsatisfactory" A rail route transporting commuters from London from Manchester is set to operate without passengers for approximately a five-month period following a decision by the railway oversight authority. A ruling by the rail regulatory body means the 07:00 GMT train operated by the rail operator from Manchester's main station to the capital will continue to run but will only be used to transport employees starting the middle of December. An operator spokesperson stated they were "let down" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these services". An ORR spokesperson indicated the decision was based on "robust evidence" from Network Rail to guard against potential operational issues on the key rail corridor. Network Rail declined to comment. Details of the Operational Adjustments The express train, which arrives in the capital in under two hours, will continue to leave from Manchester Piccadilly at 7:00 AM on four weekdays, but will not be available to commuters. It will, alternatively, transport Avanti staff from Manchester to London when the new timetable takes effect on 15 December. The ruling implies the train could run for over a hundred journeys without fare-paying customers on board. An operator spokesperson clarified they were displeased with the ORR's determination not to grant operational permissions from the winter period for four weekday services they presently run, including the 07:00 fast service from London from Manchester. The regulatory body also mandated a Sunday service which presently operates from Holyhead to London to end at Crewe, they added. "This will clearly impact those customers who already use these services," they said. "However, we will continue to provide even more trains across our route system from the start of the winter schedule, including further additional trains on our Liverpool route." The representative verified that the services being withdrawn were: 7:00 AM GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Weekdays) 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – London Euston (Weekdays) 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool North (Weekdays) 7:32 PM GMT: Chester – London Euston (Monday to Friday) 5:53 PM GMT: Holyhead – London Euston ends at Crewe (Sunday) Oversight Rationale An ORR official explained: "Our ruling on the Manchester-London service was based on robust evidence provided by the infrastructure operator that adding services within 'firebreak' slots on the main rail line would have a detrimental impact on reliability. "We identified that this service would operate within one of those time slots. If Avanti operates the service as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be operated with greater flexibility (delayed or redirected) than a scheduled public train. "This helps with performance management and operational restoration during incidents." The ORR said the operator was earlier granted the permission to operate this train from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period only. This was on the condition that another operator's Stirling services were not operating at the time but the First Lumo services are expected to begin operating during the winter 2025 schedule update. The ORR added that under the new timetable, additional independent train services, run by First Lumo to Stirling, were due to start.