Great Northern Expands Peak Services on Cambridge–King’s Cross Route

Great Northern has introduced an additional weekday service in the morning peak, with a further train scheduled for the evening rush hour, increasing capacity and improving journey times for commuters travelling between Cambridge, Letchworth Garden City and London King’s Cross.

The changes follow the timetable overhaul introduced by Great Northern and Thameslink in December last year, which reshaped East Coast Main Line services between the capital and cities including York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. That programme of changes was aimed at delivering a more reliable railway and a better experience for passengers.

Since December, the revised timetable has been introduced smoothly, with improvements recorded in punctuality and reliability. As a result, Great Northern and its rail industry partners say they now have the confidence to add two peak-time services that had previously been held back.

From today, the following updates have been made to services on the route:

• A new 0845 service from Letchworth Garden City to London King’s Cross
• A new 1654 service from London King’s Cross to Cambridge
• The 1627 service from London King’s Cross, which had been temporarily extended to Cambridge in December, will now terminate at Letchworth Garden City, with the new 1654 service maintaining the link beyond Letchworth to Cambridge via a same-platform connection

The operator says the additional trains will deliver more seats during the busiest parts of the day and provide a faster, more convenient option for passengers at stations along the route.

Govia Thameslink Railway Chief Operating Officer John Whitehurst said:

“The introduction of December’s new timetable has gone smoothly, adding seats for commuters or speeding journeys to and from stations between London, Hertford North, Cambridge and King’s Lynn. We are now confident we can complete the planned full benefits of the timetable and add these extra two services in the rush hour which will create more space for passengers when and where it is needed most.”

Image: Govia Thameslink Railway