Timetable Changes

East Coast Main Line - December 2025 Timetable

The rail industry has announced the biggest timetable change on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) in more than a decade, which will provide more trains, thousands of extra seats per day and quicker journeys, as part of a wider set of timetable changes across the network this December.

Launching on Sunday 14 December 2025, the new timetable is the result of £4billion invested on the ECML over the past decade. A summary of the timetable benefits you can expect from this investment, together with timetable extracts and summaries, can be found on the ECML Timetable Website.

Please see below for all the changes that will be made by each individual train operating company.

Avanti West Coast

Information will be published when available.

c2c

Information will be published when available.

Caledonian Sleeper

Just a short connection from the UK's second largest city, Birmingham International is the first new Caledonian Sleeper stop in over 30 years. Services to and from the Scottish Highlands will start calling at Birmingham International station from 15 January 2026.

Chiltern Railways

Information will be published when available.

CrossCountry 

CrossCountry has announced adjustments to its timetable from 14 December 2025.

The changes will see an uplift in CrossCountry services, including some additional services between Reading and Newcastle, and between Birmingham and Leicester.

The introduction of CrossCountry’s December timetable coincides with a major industry-wide update to the timetable on the key East Coast Main Line corridor. This includes significant changes to services for other operators using the rail artery, which spans 393 miles between London and Edinburgh.

Overall, CrossCountry services will increase – with additional services on the busy Reading – Newcastle and Birmingham – Leicester routes across both weekdays and weekends. Passengers travelling on Sundays will also see more resilient and reliable services across the CrossCountry network.

However, significant engineering work across the network from Christmas 2025 until the end of January means the new timetable will not come into full effect until February 2026.

Downloadable timetables will be published here when available.

East Midlands Railway

Information will be published when available.

Elizabeth line

A copy of the Elizabeth line timetable from 14 December 2025 to 16 May 2026 is available to download from the Transport for London website.

Gatwick Express

There are no significant changes to Gatwick Express services in the new timetable from 14 December 2025.

Grand Central

From 14 December 2025, the new Grand Central timetable will launch. Here’s what’s improving:

• Quicker journey times on some services on the Grand Central North East route

• A more consistent Monday to Saturday timetable

• Many services will operate at similar times - such as services departing from London Kings Cross on the hour

• Services will be spaced more evenly throughout the day

• An earlier Sunderland to London service, and a later London to Sunderland service, will run on Sundays

• More services for Pontefract Monkhill, including Sundays

Downloadable timetables will be published here when available.

Great Northern

From 14 December 2025, Great Northern and Thameslink will offer:

• Additional peak time services between Cambridge / Letchworth Garden City and London Kings Cross, to create more space on trains for customers

• New departures at Hertford North, Bayford, Cuffley and Crews Hill in the morning peak

• Faster journey times to London from key locations such as Kings Lynn (seven minutes faster) and Cambridge, as well as stations along the route, including Foxton, Knebworth and Welwyn North

• Services between Kings Lynn / Ely / Cambridge and London Kings Cross will stop at the new Cambridge South station when it opens in early 2026

• More evenly spaced departure times so customers don’t need to wait as long for a train

More information on Great Northern timetable changes, and downloadable timetables, will be published here when available.

Great Western Railway (GWR)

Information will be published when available.

Greater Anglia

Information will be published when available.

Heathrow Express

Information will be published when available.

Hull Trains

A copy of the Hull Trains timetable from 14 December 2025 to 16 May 2026 is available to download from the Hull Trains website.

Island Line

Information will be published when available.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER)

LNER will launch their new 'transformational timetable' in December 2025. Get ready for more trains, more seats, and quicker journeys.

From 14 December 2025, LNER are making the biggest change to their timetable in more than a decade. Their transformational timetable means more trains, more choice and more freedom to travel when you want to. Many journeys will be quicker too, meaning more time to enjoy your destination when you get there.

You can view the new timetable to find out how the December timetable change could make a difference to your future LNER journeys.

London Northwestern Railway

Information will be published when available.

London Overground

Information will be published when available.

Lumo

Lumo are launching a service to and from Glasgow Queen Street, Falkirk High and Haymarket in the new timetable.

From 14 December 2025, Lumo will offer mid-week services connecting Glasgow Queen Street with London Kings Cross. From 1 January 2026, Lumo will also add two additional services on Sundays and an additional mid-week service northbound to Glasgow.

A copy of the Lumo timetable from 14 December 2025 to 16 May 2026 is available to download from the Lumo website.

Merseyrail

Information will be published when available.

Northern

From Sunday 14 December 2025, Northern's timetables will be updated. The new timetable brings key improvements across the Northern network, including:

• New faster journeys – an hourly fast service between Leeds and Sheffield, offering you more options and quicker connections between two of Yorkshire’s largest cities

• Increased services in the North East – additional trains will run between Middlesbrough and Newcastle, enhancing capacity and making travel easier for work, study, or leisure

• Better connections across the wider network – major upgrades on the East Coast Main Line will support faster and more frequent long-distance travel, ensuring smoother and more reliable onward journeys with Northern

More information and downloadable timetables will be published here when available.

ScotRail

Information will be published when available.

South Western Railway

Information will be published when available.

Southeastern

Southeastern will publish full details shortly for the new timetable that starts on Sunday 14 December. Below is a brief summary by route.

Metro Services

Bexleyheath Line:

Extra services will run on weekday evenings, increasing the frequency to half-hourly:

• 20:25 and 21:25 from London Charing Cross to Dartford

• 19:23 and 20:23 Dartford to London Charing Cross.

On Saturday and Sunday, services between London Victoria and Dartford / Gravesend will be lengthened to eight carriages.

Hayes Line:

To improve the interval between trains, services from London Charing Cross to Hayes will be retimed.

• Departures at 18 and 48 minutes past the hour will start later at London Charing Cross and the interval from London Bridge will be improved from the current 9 / 21-minute interval to a 13 / 17-minute interval.

• An additional service will run at 08:02 from London Charing Cross to Hayes calling at London Waterloo East and London Bridge

Mainline Services

Bromley South Line - London Victoria to Orpington via Herne Hill:

• The 04:33 service from Swanley to London Victoria is an earlier start and it will not stop at the stations between Shortlands and Brixton. The train will now arrive in to London Victoria at 05:00 offering an 18-minute earlier arrival for shift workers.

• An additional service will run at 04:35 from Orpington to London Victoria calling at all stations via Herne Hill

Maidstone East Line to London Charing Cross – Monday to Friday:

Additional services will run at peak times creating a half-hourly service throughout both the morning and evening peak periods to / from London Charing Cross:

• 08:44 Maidstone East to London Charing Cross

• 07:57 London Charing Cross to Maidstone East

• 17:44 Maidstone East to London Charing Cross

• 18:59 London Charing Cross to Maidstone East

Services will call at London Waterloo East, London Bridge, Swanley, Otford, Borough Green & Wrotham, and West Malling.

Maidstone East Line to London Victoria – Monday to Friday:

Additional services will run on the London Victoria to Ashford route via Maidstone East on Monday to Friday:

• 09:28 Ashford to London Victoria

• 21:55 London Victoria to Ashford

Services will call at Bromley South, St Mary Cray, Swanley, Otford, Borough Green & Wrotham, West Malling, East Malling, Barming, Maidstone East, Bearsted, Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Lenham and Charing.

Highspeed Services

Monday to Friday:

• Extra weekday services from London St Pancras International to Faversham at 20:50 and 21:50

• Extra weekday services from Faversham to London St Pancras International at 18:30, 19:30 and 20:30

• These services combined with existing services mean there will be a half-hourly service all day on the London St Pancras International to Faversham route until late evening

Saturdays:

There will be additional highspeed services on Saturdays at the busiest times of days increasing the frequency to half-hourly:

• 09:30 Faversham to London St Pancras International

• 10:50 London St Pancras International to Faversham

• 16:30 Faversham to London St Pancras International

• 17:50 London St Pancras International to Faversham

Full details of the Southeastern changes being made, and downloadable timetables, will be published here when available.

Southern

Summary of the key changes to Southern services from 14 December 2025:

Services between Eastbourne and London Bridge – Monday to Thursday

To improve connectivity and increase capacity, Southern are introducing a new morning and evening peak service between Eastbourne and London Bridge.

The morning service will leave Eastbourne at 06:47 and arrive at London Bridge at 08:25. The return service will leave London Bridge at 17:03 and arrive back in Eastbourne at 18:35.

Between Eastbourne and London, the service will call at Hampden Park, Polegate, Berwick, Glynde, Lewes, Cooksbridge, Plumpton, Haywards Heath, Three Bridges and East Croydon.

Services between Sydenham and London Bridge – Monday to Friday

To increase peak capacity on the busy route between Sydenham and London Bridge, Southern are introducing additional services between Norwood Junction and London Bridge via Sydenham.

In the morning, there will be an additional service from Norwood Junction which calls at all intermediary stations and arrives at London Bridge at 09:03. In the evening, we are introducing an additional departure from London Bridge at 18:10 towards Sutton, which will stop at all stations between London Bridge and Norwood Junction.

Services via Carshalton Beeches and Tulse Hill – Monday to Friday

The 07:00 service from Sutton to London Bridge via Tulse Hill will now call at Carshalton Beeches and Waddon, giving passengers an additional option for their journeys.

The existing 08:27 Selhurst to London Bridge via Tulse Hill will now start at 08:00 at Sutton on weekdays, and will also call at Wallington and West Croydon.

Services between East Grinstead and London Victoria – Monday to Friday

To make it easier for people to travel during the middle of the day, services between East Grinstead and London Victoria will now be half-hourly during the middle of the day on weekdays, rather than hourly.

This change will apply Monday to Friday during school holidays, and on Thursday and Friday during term time.

Extra calls for Portchester station

To improve connectivity for the station, Portchester will be added as a stop to more services between Brighton and Southampton, providing a half-hourly service during weekday peak times and throughout the day on Saturdays.

Extra calls for stations between Havant and Chichester

Early morning journeys towards Portsmouth will be improved for the stations between Havant and Chichester, with extra stops on an early morning service between Gatwick Airport and Portsmouth Harbour. On weekdays, this service will call at Warblington at 07:29. On weekends, it will call at 07:30 at Warblington, alongside additional calls at Fishbourne, Bosham and Nutbourne.

Extra call for Wivelsfield Station – Monday to Friday

To improve connections to Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings, there will be an extra call at Wivelsfield on a morning service towards Ore. The 06:46 service from London Victoria to Ore will now stop at Wivelsfield at 07:38 before continuing towards Eastbourne and Ore.

Services between Brighton, Eastbourne and Ore – Saturday

There will be an additional early morning service between Brighton, Eastbourne and Ore. The existing 06:23 Eastbourne to Ore service will now start at Brighton at 05:37 and call at Lewes, Polegate and Hampden Park before continuing on to Ore.

Services between Gatwick Airport, Reigate and London Victoria – Monday to Friday

The 05:52 weekday service from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria attaches to a Reigate to London Victoria service at Redhill. The Gatwick Airport portion of this service will now start at Three Bridges at 05:47.

Stansted Express

Information will be published when available.

Thameslink

From 14 December 2025, Great Northern and Thameslink will offer:

• Additional peak time services between Cambridge, Letchworth Garden City and London Kings Cross, to create more space on trains for customers

• New departures at Hertford North, Bayford, Cuffley and Crews Hill in the morning peak

• Faster journey times to London from key locations such as Kings Lynn (seven minutes faster) and Cambridge, as well as stations along the route, including Foxton, Knebworth and Welwyn North

• Services between Kings Lynn / Ely / Cambridge and London Kings Cross, and between Cambridge and Brighton, will stop at the new Cambridge South station when it opens in early 2026

• More evenly spaced departure times so you don’t need to wait as long for a train

More information on Thameslink timetable changes, and downloadable timetables, will be published here when available.

TransPennine Express

From Sunday 14 December 2025, TransPennine Express will be making changes to services on some routes, including increasing the number of services between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

TransPennine Express route timetables from 14 December 2025 to 16 May 2026 are available to download from the TransPennine Express website.

Transport for Wales

Information will be published when available.

West Midlands Railway

Information will be published when available.