Many rail journeys between Edinburgh and London are projected to be reduced to roughly four hours by next December, accelerating the transition from plane to train, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) announced on Sunday.
The UK Government has yet to make a final judgement on speeding up the east coast main line, which would decrease certain trips between Waverley and Kings Cross by roughly half an hour.
It would be the final phase of plans unveiled more than a decade ago, which included a new fleet of faster-accelerating Azuma trains and significant modifications to the 400-mile track.
LNER said the faster journeys coupled with increased public awareness of the need to cut emissions could see trains take 60 per cent or more of the rail-air market between the capital cities.
If approved, one of the two trains an hour between Edinburgh and London would take 4 hours 5 minutes northbound and 4 hours 8 minutes southbound, stopping only in Newcastle and York.
LNER stated that compared to the current average of 4 hours 30 minutes, some trains took 4 hours 18 minutes, with the southbound 5.40am Flying Scotsman completing the run in 4 hours and stopping just in Newcastle.
The new limited-stop services will be made feasible by the launch of a new hourly Newcastle-London service to serve other stations, which LNER stated would give additional seats for Edinburgh-London customers and cheaper rates.
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Managing director David Horne told Scotland on Sunday: “What we’re trying to do in December is debut the new east coast timetable, which will provide you with an hourly service from Edinburgh to London that takes just over four hours and makes two stops en route.
“It has not been announced because a final decision must be made by the Department for Transport (DfT).
Network Rail and the [rail] sector are still working to ensure that goods trains can continue to run on time.
“The launch of the service will increase capacity on Edinburgh-London services by transferring intermediate journeys from Edinburgh trains.”
“If you’re in Edinburgh, you’re now going to have an hourly fast service which will be quicker, or at least as quick, door-to-door as if you had been travelling by air.”
Mr Horne said it meant LNER could be more ambitious than its previous goal of capturing 50% of the rail-air market on the route. He stated: “Because of the gains we have achieved since the pandemic, and knowing that sustainability is a factor that is boosting demand for trains, I believe we can be more optimistic and say we should be able to get 55-60 percent or even more onto rail.”
According to Robert Samson, senior stakeholder manager at passenger watchdog Transport Focus, “The proposed changes to the east coast main line timetable would mean passengers travelling from Edinburgh to London benefit from faster journey times.”
The DfT stated that the timetable plans were “for LNER and not the department at the moment”.
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