TRAIN operator LNER has responded after Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen slammed its new timetable “not fit for purpose and wholly unacceptable”.

Plans for a new East Coast Mainline timetable would mean Darlington would lose three trains per day to London. But LNER said the changes have been made due to passenger numbers.

A spokeswoman said: “Darlington had two London trains per hour, and an average of 1,100 passengers to and from London each way. However, Durham had fewer LNER services and more passengers.

"Due to the need to manage remaining compacity constraints on the route, the timetable does involve a series of trade-offs, with one of these being that there is not capacity on the route to deliver the overall timetable improvements and have all LNER services stop at both Darlington and Durham.

"As a result, LNER is proposing that we slightly reduce the frequency of our services at Darlington and increase them at neighbouring Durham, which better matches train service frequency with passenger demand. 

READ MORE: Teesside MPs and Mayor ask Government to stop LNER timetable changes

“We are proposing that, from May 2022, Darlington has 25 northbound LNER services from King’s Cross per day and 28 southbound services to King’s Cross per day, rather than today’s 31 in both directions.

“This small reduction is largely in the middle of the day and partly offset by an increase in earlier and later train services at Darlington."

Yet LNER said more seats will be available on Darlington services.

“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,” the spokeswoman added.

“Our aim will be to maximise the benefits of infrastructure investment at Darlington while ensuring we avoid creating congestion on local routes.

"Alongside Network Rail, the other train operators and the Department for Transport, we will be reviewing all of the comments we receive as part of the consultation, ahead of publishing a report on what we heard, and any changes to be made in response at May 2022, or later timetable changes."

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