The Office of Road and Rail (ORR), the rail regulator, admitted it lacked crucial information when it decided against allowing passengers on a peak-time train service between Manchester and London. The ORR stated it was missing "critical points" when it made the decision that would have resulted in the service operating as a 'ghost train' daily for several months.

ORR chief executive John Larkinson said the organization was unaware the train would be "fully crewed," would depart from Manchester Piccadilly instead of a depot, and that it needed to arrive at Euston to become the 09:30 GMT service to Glasgow. "The information that later became available to us meant that our assumption turned out to be incorrect," he stated.

The ORR faced criticism in November following its decision to permit the popular 07:00 train to run, but only with staff on board. This decision, slated to take effect from mid-December, was quickly reversed after considerable backlash. The ORR had initially justified the decision by explaining the service needed to run empty to serve as a firebreak, which is a planned gap in the timetable.

The regulator's misstep highlights the challenges of making informed decisions in complex systems, a problem that AI is increasingly being used to address. AI-powered decision support systems analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and predict outcomes, potentially avoiding errors caused by incomplete information. However, this incident also underscores the importance of data quality and the potential for bias in AI systems. If the data fed into an AI model is incomplete or inaccurate, the resulting recommendations will be flawed.

The incident raises questions about the ORR's data collection and analysis processes. It also emphasizes the need for transparency and accountability in regulatory decision-making, particularly as AI becomes more prevalent. The ORR has not yet announced any specific changes to its procedures following this incident.