Avanti West Coast said it will run as few as four trains per hour from Sunday in an attempt to halt the short-notice cancellations which have plagued its operations in recent weeks. The rail firm normally operates up to seven per hour on the West Coast Main Line.

Services between London Euston and Manchester appear to be the worst affected by the cut, with train frequencies reduced from three per hour to just one. The limited timetable will be in place “until further notice”, Avanti West Coast said.

The company has also suspended ticket sales for travel from Sunday until September 11 while the new schedule is finalised to minimise the number of people disrupted. It expects tickets for the first week of that period to be back on sale by the end of this week. Tickets for the following weeks will be released on a rolling, weekly basis.

In a letter to the rail industry, seen by the PA news agency, Avanti West Coast managing director Phil Whittingham wrote...