Rail passengers travelling between Manchester and London face months of disruption after a decision by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) forced a key Avanti West Coast commuter train to run empty from mid-December. The 07:00 service from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, known for its fast sub–two-hour journey time, will operate for staff only for around five months.

The regulator’s ruling means the train will continue to depart at its usual time on four weekdays but will no longer carry paying passengers. In total, the decision is expected to result in more than 100 journeys running without commuters on board. An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said the company was “disappointed” with the outcome, adding it would “clearly impact those customers who already use these services”.

The ORR said the move was based on “robust evidence” from Network Rail that placing certain trains within “firebreak” paths on the West Coast Main Line risked harming punctuality and recovery during major disruption. “We identified that this service would run in one of those paths,” the regulator said. By operating the train as empty coaching stock, the ORR said it could be moved or delayed more flexibly to help maintain overall network performance.

Alongside the 07:00 Manchester–London service, Avanti confirmed that four further weekday routes and one Sunday service are being removed from the December timetable change. These are the 12:52 Blackpool North–London Euston, the 09:39 London Euston–Blackpool North, the 19:32 Chester–London Euston, and the 17:53 Holyhead–London Euston, which will instead terminate at Crewe on Sundays. The operator noted that access rights for these trains were not granted for the upcoming timetable period.

Despite the cuts, Avanti said it would introduce additional services elsewhere on its network, including more capacity on the Liverpool route. The operator stressed the withdrawn services were previously approved only temporarily, as First Lumo’s Stirling service was not yet running; with those new open-access trains expected to begin during the December 2025 timetable, the ORR has now rebalanced available paths.

Image: Avanti West Coast