UK: Hull Trains’ proposed London King’s Cross – Worksop – Sheffield open access service would ‘give people more choice’, offer more flexibility in train fares and make the area better known, according to Labour Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw Jo White.
Speaking at the launch of FirstGroup’s Moving forward together: Why open access is essential for a better railway report on January 21, White said the service would increase opportunities for the growing population of Worksop, where new housing being built. Looking back at the history of open access, she said East Hull MP John Prescott had been a supporter of the original launch of Hull Trains.
Managing Director of First Rail Open Access, Tram & Cable Car Martijn Gilbert told Rail Business UK that the Sheffield services would be operated as an integral part of Hull Trains, which is to retain its separate identity from the Lumo brand used for London – Edinburgh services and to be used for FirstGroup’s other planned open access routes.
Gilbert said Hull Trains has built a well-known and popular brand. By providing amenities such as first class, it offers a more traditional railway proposition than Lumo, which focuses on competing with air and coach travel on its London – Edinburgh route.
The launch of the Sheffield service is subject to the application being approved by the Office of Rail & Road, and so no date is being announced.
FirstGroup is proposing to operate two return journeys a day from London King’s Cross to Retford, Worksop, Woodhouse and Sheffield. It estimates that 350 000 people in the Worksop and Woodhouse catchment areas would gain direct rail access to London, with the market including people who currently drive to Doncaster to catch fast trains to London.
