Changes to Grantham trains announced as part of new ECML timetable

Proposals for a new East Coast Main Line (ECML) timetable have been approved and will be introduced in December 2025. The timetable has been developed following a decade of planning and investment from the rail industry.

It promises to create additional customer seating capacity on the ECML, with faster journey times and more services. The additional services will reportedly generate an additional £60m per year for the rail industry to enable further enhancements on the line.

While the new timetable will provide a number of improvements between Edinburgh and London, there are some notable changes that will affect Lincolnshire passengers. For example, LNER trains from Lincoln will run at different times and will no longer link Lincoln with Stevenage.

The last weekday train from Lincoln to London King’s Cross will leave much earlier. The timings of almost all LNER and Hull Trains services calling at Grantham will also change. Services from Grantham to Newark Northgate and Retford will also be less frequent.

Grantham changes

The timings of almost all LNER and Hull Trains service calling at Grantham will change.

• There will be more services to Peterborough and London King’s Cross across the week. The last southbound train to call at Grantham will be 60 minutes earlier (10.26pm instead of 11.30pm).
• There will be fewer direct trains to Stevenage though there still be an hourly service for most of the day, seven days a week. The first train to Stevenage will be about two hours earlier Monday to Saturday and 60 minutes earlier on a Sunday. However, there will be a three-hour gap in trains from Stevenage to Grantham between 3.55pm and 16.55pm and passengers travelling at these times will need to change at Peterborough.
• Grantham to Newark Northgate and Retford will be less frequent. Links to Newark will be generally every two hours during the middle of the day; passengers to Retford will need to use Hull Trains during the middle of the day.
• Grantham to York will be hourly, instead of every two hours.
• There will be hourly trains from Grantham to York for most of the day, seven days a week, mostly taking less than 50 minutes, better than the current service every two hours taking about one hour and 10 minutes.
• There will be connections from Grantham to Northallerton, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle about every hour most of the day, seven days a week instead of the current very limited service.
• Monday to Friday, the last train to stations between York and Newcastle will be 9.39pm instead of 11.08pm though passengers can catch the 10.51pm train and change at Newark or Doncaster.