Manchester to Chester via Altrincham is very nearly back to full service. I think it's just the 15:41 from Manchester that doesn't run now, and even that is scheduled for reinstatement in the New Year
There's a lot more services missing as discussed previously.
The services which were running in March 2020 which are still not reinstated are:
06:21 Chester to Stockport SX
07:15 Chester to Stockport SX
07:41 Manchester to Chester
12:41 Manchester to Chester
14:02 Chester to Manchester
15:41 Manchester to Chester
18:01 Chester to Manchester
18:18 Stockport to Chester SX
19:41 Manchester to Chester
From 25th January the list will be reduced to the following:
06:21 Chester to Stockport SX
07:15 Chester to Stockport SX
07:41 Manchester to Chester
18:18 Stockport to Chester SX
Thing is this isn't last year.
I've just worked 2x150s into Manchester, last year (as it's last Saturday before Christmas) I would have probably have brought c.200 to 300 people in on that train. Today just 30.
Of course the flip side is, normally 120 people on a 2 car train isn't an issue but this year 120 passengers should be enough to warrant 4 carriages, subject to availability of trains.
It looks like Northern are focusing using 4 car sets on services almost completely within a tier 3 area like Rose Hill Marple to Manchester and Buxton to Manchester! Do they not realise Warrington, Chester and Liverpool are in tier 2 so if people follow government guidelines they'll get some of the Christmas shoppers who normally go to Manchester, while people on the Buxton and Rose Hill Marple lines should be avoiding any travel?