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More trains have been approved for the East Coast Mainline: all the new services coming to London, Hull, Newcastle and Glasgow

Lumo, Grand Central and Hull Trains have been given the all-clear to run new train services later this year

Written by
Ruth Lawes
Contributor
Lumo train, England
Photograph: Wirestock Creators / Shutterstock.com
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You’re not British if you don’t have a never-ending list of grievances about train services: too slow, too expensive, not enough of them, and so on. Well, in news that could be music to the ears of some train grumblers, there should soon be a noticeable improvement to services on the East Coast Mainline (ECM), affecting routes between London, Hull, Newcastle and Glasgow

First built in the 1840s, the ECM runs between London’s King’s Cross as its south terminus and Edinburgh Waverley in the north. One of the UK’s oldest train lines, it’s renowned among trainspotters for being the route traversed by iconic steam trains, Flying Scotsman and Mallard, the latter of which broke a world record for speed. Now an electrified railway stretching 393 miles long, the ECM serves towns and cities including Doncaster, York, Peterborough and Darlington.

London, Glasgow and Newcastle

So, where on the ECM is getting a service boost? First up is Lumo, which is extending its London King’s Cross to Edinburgh services all the way to Glasgow. That means you’ll soon have two more northbound trains and one southbound zipping between London and Glasgow on weekdays, plus one more each way on Sundays.

An additional return Lumo service will launch between London King’s Cross and Newcastle on weekdays, while an extra service in both directions on a Saturday and Sunday is also being added to the budget operator’s timetable.

Wakefield and Bradford

And there’s more good news for train routes up north. A revamped Grand Central service will see passengers able to hop on two new weekday and Saturday trains from Wakefield Kirkgate to Bradford Interchange, plus an extra Bradford Interchange to Wakefield Kirkgate service on the same days. 

Sundays aren’t left out either: there’s now one additional train in each direction. Oh, and if you're heading through Seaham, some existing services are now making a cheeky stop there too.

A Grand Central rail company branded train on a track in the sun in northern England.
Photograph: Kev Gregory / Shutterstock.com

London and Hull

Finally, Hull Trains is introducing one extra northbound service on weekdays and Saturdays between London King’s Cross and Hull.

However, not every proposed new service got the go ahead from the Office of Rail and Road. Among the applications turned down by the rail regulators on the basis of ‘insufficient capacity and potential performance impacts, or impact on the Secretary of State’s funds’ were plans to up the service from London King’s Cross to Sheffield.

Passengers don’t have long to wait until the approved services come into effect. They are all expected to be introduced from December.

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