ORR approves limited East Coast Main Line open access plans - rejects Sheffield proposal entirely

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has greenlit a series of additional open access services on the East Coast Main Line.

Lumo, Grand Central, and Hull Trains have all had some of their applications approved but other key applications have been turned down by the ORR.

These new services will link London King’s Cross with key destinations such as Glasgow, Hull, and Newcastle, as well as enhance regional links including Seaham on the North East coast. Furthermore, ORR’s decision will see increased train frequencies between Wakefield and Bradford, which ORR says will offer more choice.

Specifically, Grand Central will introduce two extra weekday and Saturday services between Wakefield Kirkgate and Bradford Interchange, along with additional calls to Seaham.

Hull Trains will expand their schedule with an extra northbound service connecting London King’s Cross and Hull on weekdays and Saturdays.

Lumo will operate an additional return service between London King’s Cross and Newcastle on weekdays, plus weekly services in both directions on weekends. Lumo’s application to extend its Edinburgh service to Glasgow has also been successful. It will now provide two northbound and one southbound train to Glasgow during weekdays, with additional weekend services.

The ORR explained that some proposed new services, including Hull Trains’ plan to add routes between London King’s Cross and Sheffield, were rejected due to capacity constraints, which has been a source of serious concern on the ECML as all stakeholders of the line attempt to fit both passenger and freight services into the new December 2025 timetable. The final report also showed that the additional London King's Cross - Sheffield service showed it failed the abstraction test with an absolute abstraction of £2.2 million p.a and an NPA (not primarily abstractive) test with a 0:19:1 score. For ORR to deem an NPA score to be successful, the applications NPA score should at least be 0.30:1 - meaning for every £1 abstracted, at least 30 pence of new revenue is generated.

The capacity issues also meant that the ORR were concerned about potential performance impacts, as well as the threat of abstraction from the public purse.

 RAIL understands that despite Grand Central's plans for a service from Cleethorpes to London’s King Cross, it has yet to make an application. No decision has yet been made regarding its plans for a Newcastle-Brighton service. 

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s Director of Strategy, Policy, and Reform, stated: “Approving these additional open access services will increase connectivity on the East Coast Main Line. We have ensured these new routes can be integrated alongside other major service upgrades planned for December 2025, allowing passengers and freight operators to benefit from more direct connections and greater transportation choices.”

First Group (owners of Lumo and Hull Trains) Chief Executive Officer Graham Sutherland said: “Open access rail operators bring significant private investment to both the rail sector and UK manufacturing, connect under-served communities and deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits.

"We are pleased to have been awarded the extensions to our successful open access rail operations. This is an important step in our efforts to materially grow our open access business and will allow us to build on the substantial benefits we are making to the communities we serve, and to attract even more passengers to rail.”

It did however express its disappointment that its Sheffield – London King’s Cross application was rejected and told RAIL it will be “exploring other opportunities for the route".

Grand Central said that it was "pleased" that the regulator had approved its application to introduce services to Seaham, however added: "We are disappointed our application to offer additional stopping services between London, York, Bradford, and Peterborough has not been granted."

Grand Central also confirmed that it was reviewing the decisions made regarding access on the ECML, acknowledging that the application was complex. It raised concerns that "potential inconsistencies, including that some of Network Rail's performance modelling, which contributed to the decision, created constraints that limited the full consideration of our proposals".

It added: "Meanwhile we continue to advance other ongoing applications, including for London-Cleethorpes. We will continue working with stakeholders to deliver services to under-served communities which promote travel by train and complement the government’s rail reform plans."