Rail bosses have back tracked after passengers were in uproar over their plans to ditch a busy Manchester – London commuter service and run it as a ‘ghost train’ with only staff allowed on board
Rail bosses have done a u-turn on bizarre plans to turn a busy commuter service into a ‘ghost train’ – which only staff would have been allowed to travel on.
Passengers who faced losing the fast service were in uproar after hearing they were going to lose the service which gets them to London in under two hours and before 9am. But 24 hours later the plan for the Avanti West Coast fast service to set off from Manchester Piccadilly at 07:00 on four weekdays heading for Euston, with no passengers, has been ditched.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) had wanted Avanti’s weekday 7am service from Manchester Piccadilly to London to only carry staff who needed to get to the capital to carry on their shift and help run morning trains back out of Euston. The regulator said it was necessary to remove the service to give space for manoeuvre in case of disruption.
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They took the decision after agreeing a new rail operator called lumo, an independent company, could start running services from Stirling to London Euston in December, which could add congestion on the line.
Avanti had only been given the rights to run the popular early morning service until December 15th.
The rail regulator previously said allowing Avanti West Coast to continue running the service would “harm the overall performance for all passengers” due to the potential for congestion on the West Coast Main Line. From December 15, the 7am service – nicknamed the “ghost train” – would have been forced to run with only staff on board so that it could be easily moved or delayed to alleviate pressure on rail services.
After the rail regulator reversed its decision, Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham said on X: “I am glad common sense has prevailed BUT the UK’s fastest-growing city-region should not be in the position of having to beg and plead for basic rail connectivity.” Henri Murison, the chief executive of the northern powerhouse partnership told ITV News: “Running any train at 7 o’ clock when you’re also trying to run so many other trains and there isn’t really space for all of them was always going to cause a problem.
“But the ghost train was going to run at least until May, with or without passengers. So this decision is the right way to make the best of a bad situation which is we should never have given more permissions for more services on the West Coast Mainline without providing more capacity.”
A spokesperson for ORR said: “We have taken account of all the evidence and feedback, and we have given Network Rail and Avanti the go-ahead to arrange for the 7am service to continue running with passengers.”
The regulator added: “Although it could have a negative impact on reliability and punctuality of services on the West Coast Main Line, we understand the importance of this service and we’ll support its continued operation. We expect train operators and Network Rail to look at how to best mitigate the performance impacts.”
A spokesperson for Avanti told ITV News: “We are delighted that the Office of Rail and Road has given us permission to reinstate the 07:00 Manchester to Euston weekday service in our December timetable.
“The original decision would have had a detrimental impact on customers who use this train, and this development is a welcome boost for those who want to take advantage of a sub two-hour service between two of the UK’s major cities.”
“It builds on our new timetable, which is delivering even more services across our network from the start of December, including additional trains on our Liverpool route.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We welcome the ORR’s decision to allow the 7am service to continue and will work closely with Avanti to support its operation. This service is already part of the timetable, and we fully support its continuation.”
Passengers replied to the news on X, saying: “Guess they couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.” and another branded it a “bizarre” and “ridiculous`’ idea in the first place.
