Christmas Comes Early: 1.6 Million LNER Tickets Released For Transformational New Timetable
More than 1.6 million tickets and more services will be available for LNER customers travelling from mid-December and over Christmas, as tickets go on sale for the biggest timetable change in over a decade.
Tickets go on sale today (Thursday 25 September 2025) for travel between Sunday 14 December 2025 and Friday 2 January 2026, meaning customers can plan ahead, and book direct through the LNER website or app to secure the best value fares.
Tickets for Standard travel on some of the most popular routes include prices starting from:
- London King’s Cross <> Edinburgh - £48.90
- London King’s Cross <> Leeds - £26.90
- London King’s Cross <> Newcastle - £38.20
- London King’s Cross <> Bradford Forster Square - £26.30
David Flesher, Commercial Director at LNER, said: “We know many of our customers eagerly anticipate the opportunity to plan their festive travel. We are delighted that this year they will have even more choice with tickets going on sale today in preparation for our new December timetable. More services will mean more seats, quicker journeys and even more great value fares for our customers.”
The timetable, which launches on 14 December 2025, will see departure times change for services across the East Coast Main Line. It is the biggest transformation in more than a decade following strong passenger growth in recent years. For LNER customers, the new timetable will see nearly 10,000 new services per year and more than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week*.
As part of the uplift, an extra hourly train will operate between Newcastle, York and London, providing more seats on the busiest part of the route and freeing up capacity on other services.
An hourly fast service between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross will cut journey times to around four hours ten minutes.
Customers who book direct can select their preferred seat and receive live journey alerts both on their mobile and through a QR code they can scan onboard. They won’t be charged a booking fee. As well as live journey updates, the QR code gives customers access to entertainment in the form of the LNER podcasts ‘Routes’ and ‘LNER Kids Club’, and the freedom to order snacks directly to their seat.
Further details about the new timetable and tickets can be found here.
Notes to editors
* More than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week (Monday to Sunday inclusive) - this is versus today’s May 2025 timetable
Please find further information about the timetable uplift:
Scotland:
An hourly fast service between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross will cut journey times to around four hours ten minutes.
There will be more options for customers travelling between Edinburgh Waverley and London King’s Cross with five more weekday LNER services - 58 trains per weekday compared with 53 currently.
LNER will operate four services from London King’s Cross to Aberdeen each weekday and four southbound services from the Granite City. These will call at additional stations in England, providing access to direct services to Aberdeen for more locations. The daily direct service between Inverness and London King’s Cross will also call at more destinations.
Tickets for Standard travel include prices starting, each way, from:
- London King’s Cross <> Edinburgh- £48.90
North East:
There’ll be an increase in services between Newcastle and London King’s Cross from two to three per hour in each direction. They are among 32 additional LNER services to and from London King’s Cross each weekday from December, with more services to follow in 2026. Extra services will also be introduced on weekends.
An hourly service between Newcastle and London King’s Cross, taking just under 2 hours 50 minutes southbound, calling at York only, will operate seven days a week.
Tickets for Standard travel include prices starting, each way, from:
- London King’s Cross <> Newcastle- £38.20
Yorkshire:
The 60,000 extra seats per week the new timetable will deliver is enough to fill York Minster 30 times over or four First Direct Bank Arenas.
The new timetable features five additional services between Doncaster and London King’s Cross in both directions, with more to come in 2026.
Bradford Forster Square retains its two-hourly services to London King’s Cross as it continues to celebrate its City of Culture status.
Northallerton also benefits from ten additional trains every weekday, to and from London King’s Cross. Harrogate will continue by a two hourly connection direct to London King’s Cross across most of the day.
Tickets for Standard travel include prices starting, each way, from:
- London King’s Cross <> York- £23.60
- London King’s Cross <> Leeds- £26.30
East Midlands:
The 60,000 extra seats per week the new timetable will deliver is enough to fill the LNER Stadium in Lincoln five and a half times over.
The new timetable features 19 new LNER services between Newark Northgate and London King’s Cross in both directions. Retford will also see an increase in LNER services to and from London and will be around 10 minutes faster than current timings.
Grantham will benefit from additional direct services to Newcastle, York, Durham and Stevenage all day, seven days a week.
Tickets for Standard travel include prices starting, each way, from:
- London King’s Cross <> Lincoln- £20.00
- London King’s Cross <> Newark Northgate- £18.70
- London King’s Cross <> Grantham- £17.70
About LNER
LNER, which is publicly owned by DFTO, is on a mission to transform rail travel. Our new modern Azuma fleet of trains continue more than a hundred years of LNER tradition - setting new, higher standards in comfort, reliability and customer experience. LNER calls at more than 50 stations along almost a thousand miles on the East Coast route, including major towns and cities between London, the East Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East of England and Scotland.
In 2025, LNER joins the wider rail industry in a year full of celebrations to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway. Railway 200 honours the past, present, and promising future of rail transport.
For further information:
Please contact the LNER Press Office: E: press.office@lner.co.uk T: 07704 021 208