LNER Welcomes 2025 Mercury Prize to Newcastle
Ahead of this evening’s distinguished 2025 Mercury Prize ceremony on Tyneside (16 October 2025), LNER has welcomed guests and VIPs onboard a specially named service between London King’s Cross and Newcastle. It’s the first time the prestigious music awards have taken place outside London. Guests were greeted by the sound of seventy young singers from the Mini Mercury Choir as they arrived at Newcastle Central Station.
The Mercury Prize, which recognises artistic achievement across a range of musical genres, is hosting its annual awards show celebrating the Albums of the Year, on Tyneside. To mark the occasion, LNER, the Official Travel Partner of the event, named its 10:30 London King’s Cross to Newcastle service ‘Mercury Prize Express’.
An independent panel of Mercury Prize judges, including musician Jamie Cullum and BBC Radio 1 DJ Sian Eleri, joined the service and enjoyed the LNER First Class experience as they travelled north. On the station concourse, the Mini Mercury Choir, featuring local schoolchildren between the ages of eight and twelve, performed a cover of ‘People Watching’ - a song by local chart-topping musician Sam Fender, who is shortlisted for the award this evening with his album of the same name.
David Flesher, Commercial Director at LNER, said: “LNER is proud to be supporting the Mercury Prize as it brings its prestigious awards event to Newcastle, one of the key destinations on our route. It has been a privilege to work with the Mercury team as Official Travel Partner 2025, helping dozens of artists, judges, music fans and crew make their way to Tyneside for such a special night in the music calendar. We want to wish all the shortlisted artists the very best of luck for tonight!”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of the BPI – home to the Mercury Prize, said: “To have a train service named after you is a rare and special thing, and shows just how much this year’s Mercury Prize taking place in Newcastle has caught everyone’s imagination. Personally, I always love travelling to the city by train, and that exciting moment when you first glimpse the iconic Tyne Bridge as you pull into the beautiful Central station. Our sincere thanks to LNER for honouring the Mercury Prize in this wonderful way, and to the Mini Mercury Choir for spreading musical joy as passengers arrive. As we knew it would, Newcastle is showing itself to be a tremendous host city, and we look forward to a memorable 2025 Mercury Prize.”
Notes to editors
About The Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize recognises the best new British & Irish music, celebrating artistic achievement across an eclectic range of contemporary music genres. As an independent arts prize, it champions the album format, acts as a snapshot of the year in music and often provides a major platform for up and coming artists and their musical work. The Prize has been an important milestone in many artists’ journeys, providing a stepping stone to wider success in the UK and Ireland as well as internationally.
Each year, the shortlist is curated by an independent judging panel of music industry professionals who are eternally passionate about spotlighting artistic achievement across a range of genres. The 2025 Mercury Prize judges are: Danielle Perry – Broadcaster & Writer; Jamie Cullum - Musician & Radio 2 Broadcaster; Jamz Supernova – 6 Music Broadcaster and DJ; Jeff Smith - Head of Music, Radio 2 & Radio 6 Music; Lea Stonhill – Music Programming Consultant; Mistajam – Songwriter, DJ & Broadcaster; Phil Alexander – Creative Director, Kerrang!/Contributing Editor, Mojo; Sian Eleri – Radio 1 Broadcaster & DJ; Will Hodgkinson - Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times; Sophie Williams – Music Writer & Broadcaster. The Chair of the judging team is Jeff Smith.