An early morning fast commuter train from Manchester to London is set to run without any passengers after a rail watchdog blocked Avanti from selling tickets for the service.
A ruling by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) means the 7am Avanti West Coast service from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston will still depart each weekday but will carry only staff for up to five months.
The quick train, which reaches the capital in under two hours, will be stripped of passengers from December 15 when the new timetable begins.
It is expected to operate more than 100 journeys with no paying customers on board.
Avanti told the BBC it was ‘disappointed’ by the decision, warning it would ‘clearly impact those customers who already use these services’.
The ORR, however, insisted its ruling was based on ‘robust evidence’ from Network Rail, which argued that adding the train to the morning timetable would eat into vital ‘firebreak’ slots on the West Coast Main Line, leaving the network more vulnerable to knock-on delays.
Empty stock, the regulator said, can be held back or rerouted far more easily than a timetabled passenger service.
A ruling by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) means the 7am Avanti West Coast service from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston will still depart each weekday but will carry only staff
The fast train, which reaches the capital in under two hours, will be stripped of passengers from December 15 when the new timetable begins.
But the move has not landed well with passengers, with one calling it ‘absolutely mental’ and another labelling it an ‘absurd decision’.
Under the ruling, Avanti loses access rights for four weekday services, including the Manchester–London express, as well as a Sunday Holyhead–London train which must now terminate at Crewe.
Furious passengers fumed about the decision online with one saying: ‘Absolutely mental and why Britain is falling to bits’. Another commented: ‘This country is an absolute joke’.
Another said: ‘How ridiculous. What a total waste of money and resources’.
A third fumed: ‘What an absurd decision! This will make the @British_Airways Manchester-Heathrow flight all the more appealing, at a time when government want people to travel more sustainably.’
An Avanti spokesperson added that despite the ruling, it will ‘still be delivering even more services across our network from the start of the December timetable, including further additional trains on our Liverpool route’
The ORR noted that Avanti was previously granted only temporary rights to run the Manchester–London express until May 2025, when First Lumo’s new Stirling services were not yet operating.
Those open-access trains are due to begin during the December 2025 timetable, prompting the regulator to remove Avanti’s path.
The Daily Mail has approached ORR, Avanti and Network Rail for a comment.
