The rail regulator admits it made an uninformed decision regarding a 'ghost train' service between Manchester and London. The Office of Road and Rail (ORR) initially decided not to allow passengers on a peak-time train, citing a lack of critical information. However, it later emerged that the train was fully crewed and would depart from Manchester Piccadilly, heading to Euston to become the 09:30 GMT service to Glasgow. This revelation led to a reevaluation of the decision, as the ORR's assumption was incorrect. The controversy arises from the ORR's earlier decision to allow a 07:00 train to run empty, which was reversed after criticism. The ORR justified this by claiming it needed to be an empty service to act as a firebreak, but this rationale was questioned. The ORR's chief executive, John Larkinson, acknowledged the oversight and took responsibility, promising to enhance processes to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
