East Midlands Railway said it is speeding up links between the East Midlands and the capital.
After a year of disruption to the nation’s rail services, the central England service said the link between the region’s towns and cities and London will be quicker and more frequent from May 16.
EMR says the changes will provide more seats, quicker journeys, and a simpler and more resilient timetable for users across its network, with earlier and later services as travellers get back to more typical leisure, business and tourism journeys.
It says passengers will benefit from quicker peak journey times to St Pancras and more consistent departure times throughout the day.
Day trippers or passengers wanting more flexibility will also be able to take advantage of the new timetable which will see the first train arrive in London about an hour-and-a-half earlier – and the last train 30 minutes later.
EMR said it has designed the timetable in a way that keeps the fastest off-peak journey times to London under one hour 45 minutes in most cases.
The timetable is made possible by the successful delivery of the £1.5 billion Midland Main Line Upgrade by Network Rail, working in partnership with EMR and other neighbouring train operators.
Will Rogers, managing director of East Midlands Railway, said: “This new timetable represents an exciting new chapter for train services in the region and will bring significant benefits to the communities we serve, including the city of Nottingham.
“The £1.5 billion Midland Main Line upgrade has allowed us to provide more seats, quicker journeys and a simpler, more resilient timetable.
“It has been an incredible team effort to put this timetable in place, especially during a period so heavily affected by covid and that is why we are so proud to be able to launch this new timetable.
“It will enable better regional and intercity connectivity, helping people get to work and enjoy their leisure time, and provides a timely and welcome boost to our local economies and passengers.”
Examples of New Timetable:
Nottingham to London St Pancras (old journey and time in brackets)
04:20 – 06:09 – one hour 49 minutes (new service)
04:40 – 06:34 – one hour 54 minutes (new service)
05:14 – 07:03 – one hour 49 minutes (new service)
05:51 – 07:31 – one hour 40 minutes (05:32 – 07:36 (two hours four minutes)
06:12 – 07:56 – one hour 44 minutes (06:31 – 08:24 (one hour 53 minutes)
06:49 – 08:27 – one hour 38 minutes (06:52 – 08:41 (one hour 49 minutes)
07:12 – 08:57 – one hour 45 minutes (07:11 – 09:08 (one hour 57 minutes)
07:49 – 09:24 – one hour 35 minutes (08:00 – 09:38 (one hour 38 minutes)
