It is not often that an operator undertakes a significant rewrite of its timetable. For the Inter-city East Coast franchise, the last major overhaul was the ‘Eureka’ timetable introduced in 2011 by East Coast when Directly Operated Railways was in charge. Now, with the Operator of Last Resort in charge again, LNER is preparing to introduce major changes across the length of the East Coast main line in May 2022.
A consultation on the proposals launched on 11 June and runs to 5 August. The change has been a long time in the making and builds on the infrastructure works completed as part of Network Rail’s East Coast upgrade and the introduction of LNER’s 65-strong Hitachi-built Azuma fleet. But the new timetable is not just about LNER; it is the result of a collaborative effort involving all operators – passenger and freight – using the East Coast main line.