Preparations are well underway on trains, at stations, and behind the scenes on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), as LNER readies itself for a huge increase in the number of its services.

The transformational December 2025 timetable will see the biggest change to train services across the East Coast route in more than a decade. LNER has been working hard with Network Rail and industry partners to get ready to deliver close to 10,000 new services each year.

Customers are being reminded to plan ahead as many journey times across the route are changing.

From 14 December 2025, there will be more than 60,000 extra seats for LNER customers each week, compared with the current timetable.

As part of the preparations being made across the industry, LNER has employed and trained hundreds more station and onboard colleagues to support customers and to help the transition to the new timetable happen as smoothly as possible.

Eugene Gonsalves, who started as a Customer Experience Host in August, said:
“I had been working in LNER’s customer service call centre since May last year, before a chance to apply to work onboard our trains came up.

“There’s a lot of great opportunities here, as more people have been recruited to help deliver the new timetable. On our trains, we’re going to be working more closely with station colleagues, to help us get our trains departing safely and on time.”

Collaboration will be a key part of delivering the new timetable: Conversations between colleagues will be more important than ever as they’ll help us to keep our trains on time and support our customers when they need it.

Both Eugene and Annabell highlighted the support they’ve received from more experienced colleagues, with the teamwork amongst colleagues helping them to settle quickly into their new roles.

Elaine Summerill, a train dispatcher at Newcastle Central Station, has enjoyed meeting new colleagues over the last few months. She said:
“I started as an office junior, and now I’ve been here for 36 years! You never know what the next day is going to bring, and I get to meet loads of new people, which is really enjoyable.

“Changes bring different challenges, but there’s been lots of new people joining us. We’ve got new colleagues working on our platforms, people being trained to dispatch trains, and lots of new people onboard too. I think LNER and the rail industry has an exciting future ahead.”

The new timetable is the result of collaboration between Network Rail, the Department for Transport, and the train operators along the East Coast Main Line.

You can view the new timetable in full here: https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/timetables/