New cut-price Sheffield to London King's Cross train service a step closer after breakthrough
A new cut-price Sheffield to London train service has moved a step closer after a significant breakthrough.
Hull Trains, which is part of FirstGroup, wants to launch a twice-daily return service between Sheffield and London King’s Cross, via Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford.
It says fares would be up to 30 per cent cheaper and the new route would provide more choice for passengers, especially for students and other people on a tighter budget.
The new ‘open access’ service is still waiting for approval from the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, but now one major obstacle appears to have been removed.
The new East Coast Mainline timetable coming into operation later this year has been confirmed by Network Rail, making it easier to see how the new Sheffield-London trains would fit in around existing services.
Hull Trains’ managing director Martijn Gilbert remains confident that it will get the go-ahead and enable the operator to deliver ‘cheaper’ and ‘faster’ services between the two cities.
‘Support from businesses, councils and MPs’
“We believe we’ve submitted to the regulator a very robust, solid application that’s well thought-out in terms of the economic business case.
“We know there’s strong stakeholder support from local business and industry, and local councils and MPs along the route to get this new service up and running.”
Mr Gilbert said that if and when the new service does get the go-ahead it is likely to take around a year from approval being granted to the first of the new trains running, meaning it is highly unlikely to launch before the start 2026.
He pointed to the existing Newcastle to London King’s Cross service run by Hull Trains’ sister company, Lumo, as an example of the benefits the planned Sheffield-London service could bring.
“That’s provided greater choice for customers and certainly cheaper fares,” he said.
“We’re not offering an all-day service but if people are prepared to commit to travelling on a specific train we can offer much cheaper tickets.
“Lumo’s Newcastle to London service is helping shift people from road to rail and we believe our planned Sheffield-London one would do the same.
“The Newcastle service is also enabling new journeys. People have told us they never thought they could afford to go and see this concert or football match in London by train but now they can, and it’s the same for people in London travelling north for football matches and other events.
“It’s making railway journeys more accessible to more people....
“Our ask is that we get on and get this moving through the regulatory process because we want to get on and run these trains.”
When would new Sheffield-London trains run?
The proposed service would be the first regular one between Sheffield and London King’s Cross since 1968, and would give Worksop its first regular direct trains to London in decades.
It would see two trains a day in each direction between Sheffield and London King’s Cross.
The morning service from Sheffield would leave at 9.20am and reach London at 11.44am, with the afternoon service departing at 4.54pm and arriving at 7.14pm.
In the other direction, the first train would leave London at 12.48pm and get to Sheffield at 2.57pm, while the second service would depart at 7.56pm and arrive at 9.56pm.
Those times are subject to change, as the new services would have to fit in with the existing timetable on that line.
The Office of Rail and Road told The Star: “We don’t have a date for when a decision will be made on FirstGroup's application to launch a new Sheffield-London King's Cross service.
“Network Rail has not currently provided the necessary information for our assessment of the application.”
What are ‘open access’ train services?
Open access rail operators like Hull Trains, Lumo and Grand Central are different from franchised operators like East Midlands Railway, which hold contracts with the Government to run services.
They are not subject to the same franchise commitments and do not receive any Government subsidies for running their services. The ORR has said passengers can benefit from the increased competition.
The Labour Government has announced plans to renationalise the nation’s trains, but Mr Gilbert says there is ‘still a place’ for open access operators, which have been shown to ‘complement’ the wider rail network.