East Coast Main Line December 2025 timetable change

In December 2025, the rail industry will launch a new timetable on the East Coast Main Line.

The new timetable will see more frequent and faster services, making it easier to visit friends and family. The new timetable will also provide an extra 16,000 seats per day for passengers, making travelling more pleasant.

Project timeline

The new timetable will be launched on Sunday, 14 December 2025.

What work is taking place?

A new timetable is coming to the East Coast Main Line, which connects Edinburgh and London.  The new timetable will see extra services between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and London King’s Cross. Faster journey times between Edinburgh and London, will cut travel time between the two capitals to close to four hours.

Developed through collaboration between Network Rail, train operators and the Department for Transport, the ambitious timetable will introduce an extra 16,000 seats per day – around six million seats per year.

How will this work affect me?

The new timetable will provide more frequent and faster services, making it easier to visit friends and family. The new timetable will be live on journey planners in September. As ever, we would encourage all passengers to check before travelling via National Rail Enquiries or by speaking to their train operator.

Why is this work needed?

We’re introducing this timetable change so that passengers can benefit from faster and more frequent services, as well as extra seats.

How have we been preparing?

We’ve invested around £4 billion into the East Coast route in the last decade so that we can implement this timetable change. This has included:

  • Major work at King’s Cross station to remodel the tracks and reopen a disused railway tunnel. This has helped to reduce congestion and improve reliability
  • Building a new turnback platform at Stevenage railway station to  enable more services to run
  • Constructing a new tunnel under the railway in Werrington to stop freight trains from crossing the main line and helping to improve train service performance
  • Building a new platform at Doncaster railway station to reduce congestion and help trains run more reliably.

Get in touch

For more information or to get in touch with us, please visit our contact us page or call our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41.