‘People had forgotten about it’: onboard the 7am Manchester-London train service saved from axe | Rail transport

“I I don’t think I’ve been this busy for years,” said customer service specialist Liam, trying to cope with an increasingly tired group of customers on the 7am Avanti West Coast service from Manchester to London.

The news that the microwave oven was broken and bacon sandwiches were off the menu made them even more uneasy. “I don’t think there have been this many people at 7am since pre-Covid,” said the beleaguered staff member.

Just a few days ago the Guardian announced that this train would become a “ghost train”; It had no passengers but still had crew and was traveling at high speed from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston via Stockport in under two hours. The rail regulator had decided to cancel one of Britain’s fastest and most profitable intercity services as part of the timetable change.

But a lot can happen in a few days. Following a flurry of angry emails and social media posts, including remarks from rail minister Peter Hendy and transport minister Heidi Alexander, the service was officially rescued.

Questions remain as to whether this was the right decision, but on Wednesday morning the train was packed and the conductor confirmed the service was fully booked.

The announcement that the train cafe was open for business after a delay caused by a card reader caused teary-eyed passengers to flock to the C bus, where Liam (not his real name) was working behind the counter.

Liam said the service, although still visited by a loyal core of passengers, had been used less and less since remote working began to become the norm, but news of the cancellation had brought the service back into focus.

“Honestly, I think people forgot about it. I think they didn’t realize it was still working or how useful it was until they announced it was going to be canceled, and now people are upset enough to remember it and travel,” he said.

Mike, 55, one of the 0700 loyalists, felt the initial decision showed a lack of concern for people traveling. He said the U-turn made it clear that it was the wrong choice.

“It’s all a bit ridiculous, isn’t it?” said Mike, who prefers to stand by the doors between cars during his journeys, looking out the window as the sun rises and becomes the north Midlands. he said.

“I don’t know if it’s because they don’t care about people coming from the north, I mean there are more, but the high-speed train makes a difference, right. There’s no point in getting rid of it.”

Alex, a 32-year-old Mancunian who said he disliked London and only went to the capital once a fortnight “when called” for work, was unaware that the 7am train was in danger.

“Why would they cancel it? What’s the point of making people’s lives difficult?” he asked. “I never go downstairs unless I have to, but why would I avoid the train that will get you there quickest?”

The answer lies in the reliability of the famous sub-two-hour train and its ability to provide greater service on a busy line. Rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road initially said the 7am and four other less notable and lucrative Avanti train services should be removed from the new timetable to minimize the risk of major disruption if things start to go wrong.

The analysis shows that only one of the last 11 trips of train 0700 reached Euston in the advertised time; Coincidentally, with the cumulative number of minutes of these trains, the 119 minutes promised in the ticket are late.

Speaking after the train arrived in London eight minutes later than planned, another Avanti employee said: “I think we rarely arrive on time, to be honest”, bringing the total travel time to two hours and seven minutes.

“There are usually delays getting in, not in the journey, because there are always trains ahead of us. If a train is one minute behind, we’re three minutes behind, etc. But they still have to do it, so I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

The 0700 Avanti from Manchester to London is safe for now and passengers have been promised a working microwave from Thursday. With current profitability eroding due to seemingly inevitable delays and a post-revival boom, the future of the service remains uncertain.