The Government has handed Avanti West Coast a short-term contract renewal after it provided an "unacceptable" service to rail users.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has said the train company has until April 1 next year to improve its services following a reduction of its services.
The operator reduced its timetable from seven trains per hour to a minimum of four per hour on August 14.
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This involved running just an hourly service in each direction between Manchester and London plus additional services at the busiest times.
The route had three trains per hour before the coronavirus pandemic and prior to the timetable change had two services per hour with some extra trains.
Trains were removed from the timetable in August to cut short-notice cancellations after a sharp decline in the number of drivers voluntarily working on rest days for extra pay.
The DfT said nearly 100 additional drivers will have entered formal service this year between April and December, meaning that more services have started to be added as new drivers become available to work.
It added that the company is planning to increase from 180 per day to 264 trains per day on weekdays as more drivers become available as well as continuing to recruit more train staff.
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "We need train services which are reliable and resilient to modern day life. Services on Avanti have been unacceptable and while the company has taken positive steps to get more trains moving, it must do more to deliver certainty of service to its passengers.
"We have agreed a six-month extension to Avanti to assess whether it is capable of running this crucial route to a standard passengers deserve and expect."
FirstGroup plc, which co-owns Avanti West Coast in a joint venture with Italy's Trenitalia, said it was "committed" to providing services that meet people's needs.
Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup chief executive, said: "We are committed to working closely with Government and our partners across the industry to deliver a successful railway that serves the needs of our customers and communities. Today's agreement allows our team at Avanti West Coast to sustain their focus on delivering their robust plan to restore services to the levels that passengers rightly expect."
The Government's announcement comes after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham wrote to Ms Trevelyan and urged for the train company to be stripped of its contract unless the axed services were reinstated soon.
Last month, the company published a plan to reinstate some services on certain days from September 27.
Timetables on other days were due to be boosted "as soon as possible" ahead of another increase on December 11.
Avanti West Coast's contract was originally due to expire on October 16.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: "Putting Avanti West Coast on notice marks a significant shift in tone under the new Secretary of State. At last, there is a clear recognition of the crisis engulfing the country’s most important railway line and the management failure that has led to that.
"However, the lack of an acceptable rescue plan from the company - and clear conditions from the Government - means very few people in Greater Manchester will support this extension.
"The damage that Avanti’s failing service is inflicting on our economy, and the huge disruption to passengers, is completely unacceptable. The company has shown itself to be unable to stabilise their service and fix problems with ticketing and the on-board experience for passengers. The thought of another six months of what we’re currently experiencing is a huge concern.
"From here, Greater Manchester is calling for a new approach from the Government. First, we want day-to-day monitoring and week-to-week public reporting on performance to be introduced.
"Second, we ask the Government to set a review point in mid-December in consultation with mayors and leaders from London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If Avanti are still not delivering the full timetable and an acceptable service at that point, that will allow time for arrangements to be made for a new operator to be place from April 2023."
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