Biggest shake-up in a decade for East Coast Mainline- here's what it means for passengers in Leeds
Transport chiefs have revealed the biggest timetable change for trains on the East Coast Main Line in more than a decade.
For LNER customers, the timetable will see nearly 10,000 new services per year and more than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week with 32 LNER services to and from London King’s Cross each weekday from December.
Extra services will also be introduced on weekends.
The 60,000 extra seats per week the new timetable will deliver is enough to fill York Minster 30 times over or four First Direct Bank Arenas.
We continue to work together to deliver the biggest timetable change in more than a decade for our customers and the communities we serve
What do the changes mean for passengers in Leeds?
• Under the new changes in December LNER trains from Leeds to London Kings Cross will depart earlier at 10 past and 20 to the hour.
• The number of Monday to Saturday trains to and from Bradford Forster Square will remain the same as May 2025, though the timings will change. On Sundays, the service level will increase from two to six trains per day in each direction, on a 2-hourly interval.
• Journey times from Leeds to London will be three minutes quicker than in May 2025.
• The 07:08 Leeds to Aberdeen (Monday to Saturday) and 00:42 arrival from Aberdeen (Monday to Friday) will not call at Leeds anymore and passengers will need to use other services or change at York.
• TransPennine Express services to and from Newcastle, Saltburn / Redcar Central, Scarborough and Hull have timing changes. There will be changes in some periods to TransPennine Express services because of planned disruption to deliver the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade.
• Northern will introduce an extra service between Leeds and Sheffield calling only at Wakefield Westgate, running every hour for most of the day, seven days per week, generally taking 46 – 47 minutes. These trains will depart Leeds and Sheffield about 30 minutes apart from the CrossCountry service.
• On Saturdays there will also be a later last trains from Leeds to Sheffield and from Sheffield to Leeds.
• There will be some slight changes to timings across other Northern services. This will include: Trains on the Harrogate line will run at different times Monday to Saturday. The evening peak service from Leeds to Harrogate will be improved with five trains departing Leeds between 17:00 and 18:00. There will still be five trains leaving Harrogate for Leeds between 07:00 and 08:00 but they will all be run by Northern. The last train from Leeds to Harrogate will be slightly earlier.
• On Sundays, trains from Sheffield to Leeds via Moorthorpe will run 10 – 15 minutes earlier, running at about the same times as the other days of the week but with a later start. Trains between Leeds and Doncaster retimed by 1 or 2 minutes.
• The continuation of Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade works at Huddersfield also means some changes to Northern services. The stopping service between Leeds and Huddersfield will be rerouted to Bradford Interchange via Brighouse, Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, it will be an hourly service between Leeds and Halifax via Dewsbury and Brighouse; the service between Leeds and Huddersfield via Bradford Interchange will terminate at Halifax.
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: “The new timetable will enable us to serve many destinations more frequently and guarantee thousands of extra seats each day where they needed most, providing customers with more choice when it comes to greener and more sustainable journeys.
“As an industry, we’ve been preparing for many years, and we continue to work together to deliver the biggest timetable change in more than a decade for our customers and the communities we serve.”
Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “Through more seats, more trains and faster journeys, this new timetable will see the biggest increase to intercity services along the route in a decade and will unlock growth along the whole of the East Coast Main Line.
“Growing capacity and improving passenger experience will encourage more people to choose rail, boosting the economy and delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.”
According to independent research, the new East Coast timetable will bring significant benefits to the Yorkshire and Humber economy. Currently, LNER services contribute £672 million to the regional economy per year. With benefits to customers, businesses and local communities from the new timetable this will increase by a minimum of £42.5 million each year.
James Mason, chief executive of West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “For many years now our members have been telling us that improved connectivity is a top priority for their businesses.
“It is therefore truly excellent news to see LNER delivering so many extra services around the country.
“This significant investment into Britain’s connectivity is something that will boost our members’ ambitions both here in Yorkshire, as well as nationally and internationally.”
LNER will be holding a series of customer roadshows at a number of stations over the coming months to share further information about the changes.