Prepped and Ready: The Unseen Railway Heroes Gearing Up for More Trains on Tracks this December
As the East Coast Main Line prepares to see its biggest uplift in rail services in more than decade, unseen heroes of the railway are working harder than ever to make sure trains are clean, maintained, and ready to carry millions of customers each year.
LNER has a fleet of 65 Azuma trains and eight InterCity 225 sets which, day and night, are maintained behind the scenes by engineers at fellow Department for Transport Operator company, Northern, at specialist train care depots at Heaton in Newcastle and Neville Hill in Leeds to make sure trains are available for customers to travel on.
From Sunday 14 December 2025, LNER will be running an extra 10,000 services per year and slashing journey times between London and Edinburgh to just over four hours, with 60,000 extra seats available across the East Coast Main Line (ECML) each week.
Thousands of extra services a year means more trains in use each day. Depot teams have been busy rising to the challenge and developing new ways of working so that, from the December change, fleet availability remains high, trains are clean and in good condition, and customer journeys are smooth, easy, and reliable.
At Neville Hill, engineers are continuing to work hard to maintain the stalwarts of the LNER fleet – the InterCity 225 sets. As they approach 40 years old, new wheel sets and overhauled gear boxes will be fitted to help keep their availability high for the timetable change.
Meanwhile, at Heaton, the depot has seen various infrastructure improvements, including new walkways and lighting to provide additional servicing areas for trains and rolling stock. Additional colleagues have also been recruited to make sure that LNER trains are maintained on time and are ready for service each day.
Linda Wain, Engineering Director at LNER, said: “Huge timetable changes like the one coming up in December don’t just happen. We have been working more closely than ever with our colleagues at Hitachi to make sure that our fleet of Azuma trains are maintained and ready for operation, preparing to carry thousands of customers to destinations across our almost thousand-mile route each day.
“LNER and Hitachi colleagues have been coming up with creative and innovative solutions to meet the extra services, and we continue to develop new ways of working that will further enhance maintenance work and keep the availability of the fleet high.”
Raj Basi, Northern’s engineering director, said: “Our engineering team works meticulously to clean, maintain, and repair more than 370 trains in our fleet, ensuring we can deliver over 2,600 reliable services a day across the North of England.
“In addition to our own fleet, the team supports LNER throughout the year, keeping their trains in optimal condition, and in recent months we have been working diligently to prepare for the December timetable change.
“We’re confident these improvements will make a meaningful difference for customers, providing extra services, faster journeys, and more seats to meet growing demand while maintaining strong collaborative partnerships across the industry.”
To find out more about the changes to the East Coast Main Line timetable, visit https://ecmltimetable.info/