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Monday 8 Dec 2025

Plan ahead: Changes to train timetables from Sunday 14 December

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

The rail industry is reminding passengers to plan ahead for the biggest timetable change on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) in more than a decade, as part of a wider set of timetable changes across the network, from Sunday 14 December.

Journey planners including National Rail Enquiries are up to date today (Monday 8 December) with information to help you find your best routes and book advance tickets.

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, including reductions in journey times to long distance services.
• Bringing additional LNER services on Sundays between Bradford Forster Square and London King’s Cross.
• Enabling 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.
• Enabling a new hourly fast service with Northern between Leeds and Sheffield, and additional services between Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
• Increasing TransPennine Express services between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley to eight trains per day in each direction Monday-Saturday and 7 trains in each location on Sunday.
• Delivering 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.

With significant changes coming into effect, journey times and train patterns will differ from what you’re used to and passengers are being advised to plan ahead for a smooth journey.

Simon Leyshon, industry programme director, Network Rail, said: “The new timetable will unlock thousands more seats, more frequent trains, and quicker journeys along the East Coast Main Line - setting us on the right path to provide further journey improvements in the future. With changes to journey times and train patterns, please plan ahead and check before you travel by visiting National Rail Enquiries and journey planners for the latest updates.”

In addition to the ECML, the December 2025 timetable will see enhancements 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.

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.

ENDS