London North Eastern Railway is to introduce longer trains on some of its direct services between Harrogate and London on Sundays.
Five of the current five-carriage Sunday trains will be upgraded to nine or 10-carriage trains, meaning more seats for passengers.
LNER announced the news today as part of a series of changes in response to a 30% increase in demand for Sunday leisure travellers since 2019.
The company will also introduce three additional Sunday services — two between Leeds and London King’s Cross and one between Doncaster and London.
Although these will not stop at Harrogate they will benefit people who want to get direct London trains from Leeds and Doncaster.
The new services and longer trains will start in December this year.
Brian Dunsby, leader of the Harrogate Line Supporters Group, said:
“This is a great testament to the popularity of the direct Harrogate to London services and the increasing demand for travel on Sundays.
“We are also aware that LNER are currently planning to reschedule their east coast mainline services in December 2024 so we are hopeful for gaining an earlier morning service from Harrogate to King’s Cross and a later evening return to Harrogate.”
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said its plans “will provide more than 3,000 extra seats from December”.
Rail minister Huw Merriman said travel patterns had changed since the pandemic and this was “a real win for passengers”.
Which services are affected?
Services which will become 10 carriage Azuma services:
Northbound
- The 09:05 London King’s Cross to Harrogate
- The 17:05 London King’s Cross to Harrogate
These two services will no longer be able to call at Horsforth due to the platform length.
Southbound
- The 13:15 Harrogate to London King’s Cross service will increase from five carriages to nine.
Services which will become nine-carriage Azuma services:
Northbound
- The 11:03 London King’s Cross to Harrogate
- The 15:36 Harrogate to London King’s Cross
People wanting to get to London earlier on a Sunday by train and can get to Leeds will be able to do so. The 08:05 on Sundays from Leeds to London King’s Cross will no longer call at Retford, Newark Northgate and Grantham resulting in a shorter journey time.
The service will arrive at London King’s Cross at 10.18 – 19 minutes earlier than before.
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New Pride train to pass through Harrogate
London North Eastern Railway has revealed a new named and full liveried train as Pride celebrations get underway.
The Azuma train will call at more than 50 stations, including Harrogate.
Featuring eight LGBTQ+ flags, the train was revealed today to coincide with the start of Pride month.
Named ‘Together’, it celebrates LNER’s support of Pride activities as well as the company’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
An LNER press release said the name “champions the unification of all communities which LNER is proud to support”.
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said:
“It’s a momentous occasion for everyone at LNER to be unveiling the first full liveried Azuma in celebration of Pride ahead of our summer of supporting Pride events on our route.”
LNER will be supporting Pride events in York, Edinburgh and London this month on the east coast route.
The flags included on the train are the intersex-inclusive progress pride flag, the transgender pride flag, the bisexual flag, the trans-inclusive gay men’s flag, the lesbian pride flag, the pansexual pride flag, the nonbinary pride flag and the asexual pride flag.
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LNER to increase train numbers on East Coast line from tomorrow
LNER is to increase the number of trains on its London to Scotland services from tomorrow. The train operator said it would add more than 1,600 seats for customers each weekday compared with the current timetable.
There will an additional 10 services on the London to Scotland line . The company says it is expecting more people to use the trains in the coming weeks and the extra services will help with social distancing.
LNER Managing Director, David Horne, said:
“The changes that we’re introducing from 7 September will increase our service levels from around 75 per cent up to 85 per cent of our pre-covid timetable, so it’s a significant step forward as we welcome more passengers back to our services
“These additional services will also provide a welcome boost to communities along our route, such as Peterborough, York and Newcastle, which are just some of the destinations set to benefit”
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LNER says it has continued to have extra cleaning on trains and at stations. People can only travel if they have reserved a seat to allow passengers to be spaced apart and it remains mandatory to wear a face mask.
LNER said it has supported research done by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) which found the risk of covid-19 infection being less than 0.01% on an average journey. Its analysis has shown the risk of contracting coronavirus while travelling by train is about 1 in 11,000 journeys.
LNER has resumed its direct train service from Harrogate to London.
From today, the operator will run six trains in each direction from Monday to Friday as demand rises due to the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Services on the weekend will remain limited.
Passengers must make reservations ahead of travelling and will be allocated a socially distanced seat. LNER also recommend that they wear face coverings in stations and trains.
Read more:
Onboard ventilation systems will provide a “continuous supply of fresh air” with the air cycled every six minutes on every train.
The company said extra cleaning is taking place both on stations and onboard trains, with teams using disinfectant and long-lasting virucidal fog.