If you want to make sure that you get a seat on a train from Manchester to London, you can bank on the 6:35am service.
But what you might gain in the knowledge that you’ll get a seat, you’ll lose in cash. Overpriced rail tickets between Manchester and the capital are nothing new, but Avanti West Coast have stopped releasing tickets three months in advance following their decision to cut the London-Manchester service to just once an hour.
This leaves commuters with a tough choice. If you want to be in London before 9am, the 6:35am train is the last one that will get you there. But a return booked the day before would cost you just over £250 - a price that is just not feasible for most.
Even while on board, commuters branded the service ‘too expensive’ for most to even consider. One woman, who said she gets it regularly, told the Manchester Evening News that the journey had become far more difficult since Avanti slashed the route's timetable, but the busiest times tend to be in the evening.
"It has been worse [since the timetable was cut] - it's inevitable," she said. "But the staff have been really helpful and flexible. This time in the morning is normally quiet because its so expensive."
In several carriages on the train more than half the seats were empty and unreserved - a sight that seemed unusual for a popular commuting time between two major cities. Another passenger said he takes the 6:35am train every Monday and he hadn't had any trouble with the service since it was cut.
"I am surprised to see it this empty. I think that it is usually busier," he told the M.E.N.
If it's the cost that is putting commuters off, one of the obvious solutions is to book as far in advance as possible. But right now, that's easier said than done - ticket sales have been suspended for travel until September 11 while the new schedule is finalised.
You can, howevever, book weekdays and some weekends months in advance, at a cost which is much easier to swallow. Another passenger on this mornings service told us that's what he had done - but added that there had been issues with Avanti's booking system since the timetable change.
"The booking system is not working as it shoud be. You used to be able to book three months in advance - now it's usually a matter of weeks."
Speaking to the M.E.N previously, an Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “We apologise for the delay in tickets being made available. With our reduced timetable we are having to finalise our timetable in journey planners at short notice, and we are sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers.
“We are trying to give our customers as much information as possible by sharing the expected dates for ticket availability on our website, social media and through ticket alerts.”
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