North-East leaders say the new rail timetable is a “kick in the teeth” for the region after “disaster scenario” halves the frequency of some services and cuts others by a third.

Details of a new East Coast Mainline timetable that will come into force in May 2022 were announced last week which look set to increase the number of trains between Newcastle and London from two to three trains per hour for a faster journey time.

However, the change is set to half the frequency of trains between Newcastle and Manchester via Durham and Darlington.

The number of trains to London from Berwick Darlington will be cut, this would result in Darlington losing three trains per day to London and  Berwick will be reduced from 15 to 11 trains per day.

Durham on the other hand will see a 50 per cent increase in services to and from London.

Plans to increase the frequency of services between Teesside, Sunderland, and Newcastle have been postponed.

Under the proposals put out for public consultation last week, Grand Central will increase its Sunderland to London trains from five to six each day – but LNER’s early morning and late night trains between Sunderland and London will be scrapped entirely.

A spokesperson for LNER said: "Our proposed May 2022 timetable has been developed by Network Rail with all train and freight operators on the East Coast Main Line.

It has involved balancing long-distance, high-speed, regional and commuter/local services alongside the needs of the rail freight sector. Due to this approach, our focus on maximising the benefits of investment in the East Coast Main Line for passengers and managing remaining compacity constraints on the route, the timetable does involve a series of trade-offs.

The purpose of our consultation is to seek views on the proposed changes, which include 39 more LNER services each weekday, up to 17,000 extra seats per day and reduced journey times and on long-distance services between London, the East Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, while protecting reliability."

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “This news is a kick in the teeth for local people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“We are investing a huge amount of money in order to make sure railway stations across my region are fit for purpose, and I expect train operators to provide the good-quality services passengers rightfully demand and which they promised to deliver. It is unacceptable that LNER are planning on cutting trains to London by a third and postponing the planned increase in services to Sunderland and Newcastle.

“In the coming days and weeks, I will be urging LNER to reverse these regressive timetable changes, changes that do nothing to support local people to use the railway more.

“I’ve already raised my concerns with Network Rail about this matter and will be discussing it with the Transport Secretary to try and rectify what is an obvious error.”

Under the proposals put out for public consultation last week, Grand Central will increase its Sunderland to London services from five to six each day, but LNER’s early morning and late night trains between Sunderland and London will be scrapped entirely.

Councillor Heather Scott, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: “I will be attending a meeting in the coming weeks to understand more about what is being proposed, but will clearly be arguing strongly against any reduction in the number of services in Darlington.

“The station development should not be affected.”

Gateshead Council Leader Martin Gannon, said: “It’s almost like a disaster scenario for the North East and significantly hampers the economic prospects of major centres of population”.

A spokesperson for LNER said: “Our proposed May 2022 timetable has been developed by Network Rail with all train and freight operators on the East Coast Main Line. It has involved balancing long-distance, high-speed, regional and commuter/local services alongside the needs of the rail freight sector. 

“Due to this approach, our focus on maximising the benefits of investment in the East Coast Main Line for passengers and managing remaining compacity constraints on the route, the timetable does involve a series of trade-offs.

The purpose of our consultation is to seek views on the proposed changes, which include 39 more LNER services each weekday, up to 17,000 extra seats per day and reduced journey times and on long-distance services between London, the East Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, while protecting reliability.

“However, the proposed timetable also means reducing the frequency of our services at Darlington, with increased frequency at neighbouring Durham better match frequency with demand.

“In 2019, Darlington had two London trains per hour, and an average of 1,100 passengers to and from London each day. However, Durham had fewer services and more customers. This change improves that balance while continuing to support fast journeys between our key destinations.

“Once Darlington station capacity works are complete, we will work with our rail industry partners to consider timetable changes in the Tees Valley in the coming years. Our aim will be to maximise the benefits of infrastructure investment at Darlington while ensuring we avoid creating congestion on local routes.

“Later this year, LNER is introducing its first Middlesbrough service and, enabled by the May 2022 timetable change and the completion of Middlesbrough station works after that, LNER will introduce a regular Middlesbrough service through the day.”