Media centre

Sunday 14 Dec 2025

More trains, more seats and quicker journeys as rail industry launches December 2025 timetable

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

The rail industry has launched the biggest timetable change on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) in more than a decade today (Sunday 14 December), as part of a wider set of timetable changes across the network.

The new timetable is the result of £4billion invested on the ECML over the past ten years, including the East Coast Upgrade and will provide more trains, thousands of extra seats per day and quicker journeys. Changes include:

• Improved connectivity between Yorkshire, the North East, Scotland and London, with nearly double (46%) the number of weekday trains between Newcastle and London King’s Cross during the day, and reductions in journey times to some services of around 15 minutes London to Edinburgh, 10 minutes London to Newcastle and 10 minutes Edinburgh to York.
• An increase to six LNER services on Sundays in each direction between Bradford Forster Square and London King’s Cross.
• All passing services which are operated by Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink, and CrossCountry, to call at the new Cambridge South station when it opens in summer 2026.
• A new hourly fast service with Northern between Leeds and Sheffield, and additional services between Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
• Increased TransPennine Express services between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley to eight trains per day in each direction Monday-Saturday and 7 trains in each direction on Sunday.
• More frequent East Midlands Railway services between Nottingham and Lincoln, doubling from one train per hour to two trains per hour Monday to Saturday, providing over 2,000 extra weekday seats and 2,500 extra Saturday seats.   

Crucially, the new timetable will grow capacity with more than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week, and better connectivity, including faster services from London to Edinburgh (just over four hours) and London to Leeds (just over two hours).

The new timetable follows close collaboration between Network Rail, ECML passenger and freight train operators, and other rail industry partners. Whilst the vast majority of services will commence in December 2025, to enable a smooth introduction a small number of services will be introduced in a phased way in 2026.

Ellie Burrows, Eastern regional managing director, Network Rail, said: “The industry has been preparing for many years for the new timetable, which will unlock thousands more seats, more frequent trains, and quicker journeys along the East Coast Main Line. Our priority now is to continue working together to deliver the long-term benefits of this timetable change, the biggest in over a decade, for our passengers and the communities we serve.”

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “This is the biggest timetable change on the East Coast Main Line in more than a decade, and it marks a major step forward for passengers and communities.

“Thanks to £4billion of investment, we’re delivering faster journeys, thousands of extra seats, more cheap fares, and better connections across the country – and it is needed, with the North East seeing the highest growth in rail passenger journeys in the UK last year.

“These improvements won’t just make travel easier – they’ll open up access to jobs, unlock new homes, and create opportunities for growth along the route.”

In addition to the ECML, the December 2025 timetable will see changes on other parts on the network too, including:

• Running more Avanti West Coast services from Euston, including more trains between London and Liverpool.
• More independent services from Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo, including provision for a new Stirling to London Euston service.
• Transport for Wales will introduce two trains an hour between Chester and Wrexham, Monday to Saturday, along with a new timetable on the Heart of Wales line between Swansea and Shrewsbury, lifting the through service to five trains each day, and finally the first ever Transport for Wales Sunday service to Coryton.

Daniel Mann, Director of Industry Operations at Rail Delivery Group, said: “We’re delighted that customers are now able to take advantage of the new December timetable, marking the biggest transformation to East Coast Main Line services in more than a decade. This major change represents an important step towards delivering more trains, quicker journeys, and a more resilient railway that continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s customers." 

Please check with your local train operator or use the Journey Planner on the National Rail website for the most up-to-date information before you travel.