East Coast Main Line Timetable Changes

In April 2024 Network Rail announced that a planned timetable change on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) would be postponed for a second time. This would have been the most significant timetable change on this route since 2011, impacting communities along the east side of England and Scotland, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

In April 2024, the previous government said that it had invested £4 billion in new rolling stock and infrastructure upgrades to enable additional services to operate on the ECML, and was disappointed with the postponement.

Overview of proposed timetable changes

The headline measure was the introduction of a third LNER service each hour between London Kings Cross and Newcastle [PDF]. This service would serve some of the smaller stations on this route. As a result, some London Kings Cross to Edinburgh services would make fewer stops, resulting in faster journey times. However, while some stations would see an increase in services, others, including Darlington and Berwick-upon-Tweed, would have seen a reduction in services [PDF].

LNER also proposed to introduce a regular service between London Kings Cross and Middlesbrough [PDF] following the completion of infrastructure works at Middlesbrough Station.

There would also have been associated impacts on other train operators on the ECML. In particular, TransPennine Express services between Newcastle, Durham and Darlington to York (and onwards to Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester) would have been cut from two to one train per hour [PDF].

Reaction to proposed timetable changes

Reaction to the proposed timetable changes has been mixed. While some have welcomed faster journey times between London and Edinburgh, Transport for the North expressed concerns that there would be a reduction in connectivity to non-London destinations [PDF]. Delays to the introduction of the new timetable have also been criticised.

Management of the East Coast Main Line

The ECML is a major railway linking London and Edinburgh via York and Newcastle. A third of the UK population [PDF] lives within 20 minutes of an ECML station. The ECML also carries a significant amount of freight. In 2019, 58 million tonnes of freight was carried [PDF], including container trains, aggregates and energy flows [PDF].