Reinstating Lincoln-Newark service depends on East Coast Main Line timetable recast

Only the implementation of the twice-delayed East Coast Main Line timetable recast will allow the reinstatement of Lincoln-Newark Northgate trains, Rail Minister Lord Hendy has revealed.

The East Midlands Railway service was withdrawn in an emergency timetable introduced in June 2021, resulting in service gaps.

Answering a question from Lord Bradshaw, Hendy said that Department for Transport officials and EMR are “having conversations” regarding restoration of the services.

But he added: “Reinstatement is dependent upon the implementation of the ECML timetable recast.”

In April, Network Rail announced that a planned ECML major timetable change (planned for December) would be postponed for a second time, after its May 2022 introduction was axed. However, on Thursday, RAIL reported that a breakthrough was close with details expected to be announced later this month.

This would have been the most significant timetable change on the route since 2011, affecting all services between London, the North East and Scotland.

It follows a £4 billion DfT-funded infrastructure upgrade, designed to enable additional trains to operate on the ECML.

These included a third LNER train each hour between London King’s Cross and Newcastle, serving some of the smaller stations on the route.