Northern: 'Check your timetable' urges operator as new UK train timetable comes into effect

The changes will see a new Sheffield to Cleethorpes service launched by Northern. The new rail route currently appears to be much cheaper for a ticket than a similar service by TransPennine Express, but will take longer.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “The new timetable coming into effect on Sunday is part of a national timetable change process that takes place twice a year for all train operators in England.

"The train network is a complex system of inter-dependent parts and it is vital that changes are co-ordinated in this way.”

The changes to rail timetables come into effect on May 21, 2023. The majority of services will remain the same. However, Northern are urging passengers who regularly use the same trains to double-check.

The new Sheffield to Cleethorpes service means the time of the weekday Sheffield to Gainsborough Central service will change, with no peak service, but alternative Sheffield to Gainsborough Lea Road services will remain unchanged.

Ms Williams continued: “There are a very small number of services that have been removed from the timetable which reflects customer demand and we have already communicated that information to those communities.”

The new timetable change comes days after the announcement TransPennine Express will be taken over by the UK Government. The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper MP, made the decision after passengers in the North had to “bearing the brunt of continuous cancellations” for months. Sheffield Heeley MP, Louise Haigh, pledged to bring rail into public ownership under a Labour Government.