Media centre

Monday 12 Dec 2016

More trains and more reliable journeys for Doncaster passengers

Region & Route:

| Eastern

A new platform which will allow more trains to run through Doncaster and improve reliability of journeys for passengers has been officially opened.

Transport Minister, Andrew Jones, joined Network Rail who own the station and built the new platform; Virgin Trains East Coast who operate Doncaster station; and Northern who’s trains will use the new platform; for the event.

The new bay platform, platform zero, is part of the Railway Upgrade Plan and will reduce congestion around what is a key junction on the East Coast Main Line for both passenger and freight services, as well as allowing both long distance and local train services more flexibility.

Platform zero is the first part of a £21million programme of improvements at Doncaster which includes track adjustments and new ‘bi-directional’ signals, the traffic lights of the railway, which will allow trains to run in either direction on a single piece of track.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “It is a pleasure to be here in Doncaster, officially opening this new platform.

“The government is investing £40 billion in our railways, the biggest amount since the Victorian era, to modernise the service and improve routes. Here in Doncaster, the improvements form part of a wider investment in the East Coast Main Line, which will see £247 million spent on enhancements between now and 2024 to improve capacity and journey times for passengers.”

The Doncaster improvements form part of a wider investment in the East Coast Main Line which will see £247million spent on enhancements between now and 2024 at places including Werrington, Huntingdon and King’s Cross to provide more frequent, faster services and to help respond to the tremendous growth which has seen passengers numbers double on Britain's railways in the past 20 years.

The improvement work, which will continue on the track and signals at Doncaster over Christmas, will also prepare the railway for the arrival of the new Virgin Trains East Coast ‘Azuma’ trains which will enter service in 2018.

Opening the new platform, Rob McIntosh, route managing director for the London North Eastern and East Midlands Route at Network Rail, said: “I’m delighted that platform zero is now in operation and that rail travellers in Doncaster can now start to feel the benefit of this major piece of investment.

“While the most visually impressive part of the upgrade is now complete, work will continue in the coming months behind the scenes on the track and the systems around the station and we continue to develop our plans for the enhancements across the rest of the East Coast Main Line to improve this vital rail link for the passengers and businesses who depend on it.”

David Horne, managing director of Virgin Trains on its east coast route, said: “Doncaster is a very important and very well served station, and the extra capacity which the new platform will create, along with Network Rail’s improvement of the signalling and infrastructure, will help improve the railway’s reliability.

Paul Barnfield, regional director at Northern said: “The opening of platform zero will give much greater flexibility in terms of the services we provide and having the dedicated platform will ensure our services dovetail more effectively with those of our colleagues.

“We are pleased to have been able to work in partnership with Network Rail and Virgin Trains East Coast to deliver significant improvements that will not only benefit Doncaster and the surrounding area, but also those using the East Coast mainline to travel further afield.”