RAIL passengers in the region can have their say on services ahead of proposed “significant” timetable changes by London North Eastern Railway (LNER).

Views of rail users are sought in an eight-week consultation ahead of the May 2022 timetable introduction.

LNER’s proposed new timetable builds on more than a decade of planning and investment in its fleet of new Azuma trains and Network Rail’s modernisation of the East Coast Main Line tracks.

The operator aims to support the economies and communities along the East Coast route, providing more services, more seats and reduced journey times, plus high levels of reliability on long distance services between London, the north of England and Scotland.

It will see LNER’s five trains per hour into and out of London King’s Cross increase to six, enabling the introduction of new, faster services throughout the day.

There will be 39 additional LNER services each weekday and more at weekends, with London to Newcastle services ten minutes faster.

By adding extra capacity to and from York, LNER is also putting in a building block for a regular Middlesbrough service once local infrastructure work is complete.

A dedicated website, www.lner.co.uk/Timetable2022, went live on June11, contains information on the proposed improvements and how the changes effect each station.