Yesterday, Monday, 26th June, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) ran a test train to Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire as part of an investigation to see whether it could operate direct services between the town and London King’s Cross.

One of London North Eastern Railway’s Azuma trains was used for the tests, and starting at Doncaster it stopped at Grimsby Town, Cleethorpes, Barnetby, and Market Rasen. At each station, a series of checks were conducted to validate the clearances between the platforms and the train.

Onboard the train was a specialist team that carried out the checks and assessments. The process was the same when any potential new route or extension to an existing route is being considered for bringing into service.

A significant level of detailed testing will be carried out to check and validate whether the train can operate safely over the network concerned, following which the findings will be reviewed.

The validation exercise involved extensive work and collaboration across the industry. Among those involved were Rail Operations Group (ROG), which provided a Driver and Train Manager Route Conductor to support LNER’s safe operation over the route, Network Rail which is responsible for the tracks and infrastructure, and Hitachi Rail which built the train involved in the exercise.

Among those who have campaigned for direct services between Cleethorpes and London King’s Cross and were at their respective stations to welcome the test train were local MPs Lia Nici, MP for Great Grimsby, Cleethorpes MP, Martin Vickers, and Sir Edward Leigh, MP for Gainsborough.

David Horne Managing Director at LNER said: “This is a really positive step to see whether LNER can reinstate its direct services between Cleethorpes and London King’s Cross. It is early stages yet and there is a lot more work to do to see whether these services can come back for the first time in decades, but today we have shown that with willpower and cross-industry collaboration, we might be able to see LNER services connect Cleethorpes to London once again.”

In the last financial year, London North Eastern Railway carried one million more passengers than it did in 2018-19, and leads the way in encouraging people to return to travelling by rail. According to the latest figures from the Office of Rail and Road, the company has topped the table for franchised operators for the last two years.