Extra trains between Lincoln and London will not be ready by summer, LNER confirm

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London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has confirmed that it will be increasing its number of services between Lincoln and London but not until the end of 2019.

The company, which operates the East Coast route, is reported to be increasing its number of services between Lincoln and the capital from one to six.

However, LNER has confirmed a timescale has not yet been finalised for this, despite some incorrect reports stating the new services will be in place this Summer.

An LNER spokesperson told CityX: “We are still confirming the timeline for when the new trains will replace the current fleet on our Lincoln services.

“The trains will certainly be in place by the end of the year but we don’t think we’ll be ready in the Summer.”

This comes as the company announced new Azuma trains will enter into service on May 15, 2019.

LNER Managing Director David Horne said the first Azuma train will run on the London (King’s Cross) – Leeds route, with further trains being phased into service on the rest of the route over the coming months.

He said: “I am delighted to confirm that LNER will run the first Azuma train on the service between London and Leeds, commencing from May 15.

“This is what customers up and down the country have been waiting for and represents a monumental milestone for rail travel.

“We’ve worked very hard alongside our partners and suppliers to reach this point and I look forward to giving all our customers an excellent experience every time they travel with us.”

LNER customers will see more seats and more services rolled out across the network as Azuma trains are introduced, with the total fleet increasing from 45 to 65 trains.

The Azuma trains are being manufactured in Britain by Hitachi Rail, at its purpose-built factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

Karen Boswell, Managing Director of Hitachi Rail said: “Passengers on the East Coast Main Line will soon be able to enjoy a fleet built in the North East of England harnessing Japanese bullet-train technology.

“Our British train factory has sourced parts from across the country to build the Azuma trains, which herald a new era for this famous route.”

The introduction of the new trains has required substantial work across the network to update equipment and technology used to run the Azumas.

Rob McIntosh, Route Managing Director for Network Rail, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that passengers will soon be able to travel on the new Azuma trains and we look forward to them reaping the benefits.

“A huge amount of work has gone into reaching this significant step and we have worked extremely closely with both LNER and Hitachi on this.”