Sheffield trains: New Sheffield-London King's Cross train service could launch next year, says Hull Trains

Hull Trains, which is part of FirstGroup, wants to launch a twice-daily return service between the two cities, via Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford.

It would be the first regular service between Sheffield and London King’s Cross since 1968, and would give Worksop its first regular direct trains to London in decades.

FirstGroup has submitted the first phase of an application for the new ‘open access’ rail service to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

If successful, it says the new service could start running as early as the end of 2025 and would provide faster, cheaper trains to London for people in Sheffield and the surrounding area.

What times would new Sheffield-London trains run?

The proposals 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.

When could new service launch?

The Star spoke to Hull Trains’ managing director Martijn Gilbert for an update on the proposed new service.

He said the operator was still waiting to hear back from the regulator about whether its application has been successful.

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And he told us there were a ‘lot of complexities’, with the route its service would join subject to an ongoing timetable review.

But he said Hull Trains remained committed to launching the service and he believes it could still start running by the end of 2025 if the ORR grants approval within the next few months.

‘Increased competition and reduced fares’

He also claimed the proposed new Sheffield-London service would benefit hundreds of thousands of passengers in Sheffield and along the route, bringing cheaper fares and faster journeys.

“Our Hull Trains operation to Hull has taken that city from having one train a day to London to eight trains a day. It has increased competition and reduced fares for passengers on that route,” he said.

“We feel the new Sheffield-London service will deliver lots of benefits to both Sheffield and the wider region. We have a very strong track record, and a lot of people from Sheffield already connect with our services from Doncaster.

“They know we offer a good standard of service, cheaper fares and more choice for customers....

“We can’t control when the regulator will be satisfied but if we can get approval in the next couple of months we believe we could have it up and running by December 2025 at the earliest.

‘Two return trains a day just a start’

“Two return trains a day is a small start but we want to build with that as we have with our Hull to London service.

“Sheffield has a very high share of travel by road to London, with about 75 per cent of journeys between the two cities made by road.

“We know travelling on the M1 isn’t the best of journeys, and having something that would offer more choice of rail services and better fares will benefit Sheffield.”

Open access rail operators like Hull Trains 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 new Labour Government has announced plans to renationalise the nation’s trains, so launching a new service might seem like a risky choice for a private operator.

But Mr Gilbert said Labour recognises there is ‘still a place’ for open access operators, which have been shown to ‘complement’ the bigger rail network.

“If, at our own risk and at no cost to the taxpayer, we can deliver something that fits in a gap in the market, benefiting consumers, then why not have it?” he added.

How would journey times compare, and how much could passengers save?

EMR says its average train time between London St Pancras International and Sheffield is 2 hours 11 minutes, with the fastest journey time of 1h 58m.

The proposed journey times for Hull Trains’ planned service between the two cities range from 2h 24m to exactly two hours.

As for the prices customers travelling from Sheffield to London King’s Cross could expect to pay, Mr Gilbert said it was impossible to say at this stage.

But to give an indication of the potential savings, he pointed out that on the day we spoke, the cheapest ticket with Hull Trains from Retford to London for the following day was £18, compared to £30.10 with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) for the same journey.