No plans for LNER to keep King's Cross-Sunderland service after mid-December

There are no plans to require LNER to run direct services between Sunderland and London King’s Cross beyond December 2024,” Rail Minister Lord Hendy has stated.

Responding to a question from Lord Shipley about what plans the government has to “require LNER” to reinstate direct services to the North East city, Hendy said: “Sunderland will continue to have direct London services provided
by open access operators. Additionally, improvements to the Metro network will improve connectivity in the North East.”

Arriva-owned Grand Central runs five trains a day between London and Sunderland. These head southwards along the

Durham Coast Line, calling at Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe before joining the East Coast Main Line at Northallerton.

LNER operates a daily return Monday-Friday Sunderland- London King’s Cross service. This runs north from Sunderland, to go via Newcastle and then York.

The final LNER train runs
on December 14 and is being discontinued due to “low passenger numbers and low ticket sales”. Instead, the train will start/finish at Newcastle.

LNER said its direct Sunderland services “have
had low passenger numbers between Newcastle and Sunderland” since it was introduced by Virgin Trains East Coast in 2015.