Great Northern and Thameslink improves services in December timetable

Great Northern and Thameslink have welcomed the announcement of a new timetable on the East Coast Main Line today (see rail industry press release) that will allow them to give passengers better services.

The major new timetable will take advantage of a £4bn decade-long series of upgrades made to the route to introduce new long-distance services to London from the North of England.

In addition to the changes announced, including the provision to stop all trains at Cambridge South station when it opens in early 2026 (see press release), Great Northern and Thameslink will offer, after 14 December:

• Additional peak time services between Cambridge, Letchworth Garden City and London King’s Cross, to create more space on trains for customers
• New departures at Hertford North, Bayford, Cuffley and Crews Hill in the morning peak
• Faster journey times to London from key locations such as King's Lynn (seven minutes faster) and Cambridge, as well as stations along the route, including Foxton, Knebworth and Welwyn North
• More evenly spaced departure times so customers don’t need to wait as long for a train.

See editor’s notes below for summaries for King’s Lynn/Ely; Cambridge/Letchworth; Peterborough and Welwyn Garden City/Stevenage via Hertford North.

The new timetable and services will be updated in online journey planners such as National Rail Enquiries from Friday 19 September but the timetable changes are already detailed station by station, along with changes coming to other operators’ services, at www.ecmltimetable.info

Govia Thameslink Railway Chief Operating Officer John Whitehurst said: “For our customers travelling to and from stations between London, Hertford North, Cambridge and King’s Lynn, this timetable will mean more passenger space at peak times where it is needed most, quicker trips to and from London from key destinations and more evenly spaced departure times so customers don’t need to wait as long for a train.

“The timetable will also ensure we are ready for new services to be introduced at Cambridge South station when it opens early next year.”

ENDS

Editor’s notes

Summary of timetable changes after 14 December 2025 – these are listed station-by-station at www.ecmltimetable.info:

King’s Lynn/Ely to London King’s Cross

• Services between King’s Lynn, Ely, Cambridge and London King’s Cross will stop at the new Cambridge South station when it opens in early 2026.
• Departure times have changed to support faster journey times by up to seven minutes – both during peak and off-peak hours.

Cambridge/Letchworth to London King’s Cross

• Services between Cambridge and London King’s Cross will stop at the new Cambridge South station when it opens in early 2026.
• In peak hours, the current half-hourly stopping service between Cambridge and London King’s Cross will be replaced by two new services, both of which will run at a half-hourly frequency, doubling capacity on this key route.
• The two new service groups will be formed of:
  • A half-hourly Cambridge to King’s Cross semi-fast peak service
  • A half-hourly semi-fast service, which will operate between Cambridge and London King’s Cross in peak hours, providing faster journey times between London and stations between Cambridge and Welwyn North.
  • These services will call at Foxton, Shepreth, Meldreth, Royston, Ashwell & Morden, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin and Welwyn North.
  • A 16:54 service from London King’s Cross to Cambridge is expected to be introduced early next year, and the 16:27 service to Letchworth will be extended to Cambridge until then to give similar arrival and departure times for stations north of Letchworth.
• Additional stops at Knebworth
  • To provide faster journeys between London and Knebworth, the above services will call at Knebworth in the afternoon peak (when travelling from London King’s Cross to Cambridge). An equivalent stop will be made at Knebworth in the morning by the Peterborough to Horsham Thameslink service to provide a fast journey towards St Pancras International and central London.
• Half-hourly Letchworth Garden City to London King’s Cross stopping peak service
  • A second half-hourly service will operate between Letchworth Garden City and London King’s Cross in peak hours, providing additional capacity for customers.
  • These services will call at Hitchin, Stevenage, Knebworth, Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar, Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park.
  • These services will call at New Barnet in the morning to provide additional capacity, and one morning and one evening service will be extended to Royston to improve connectivity.
  • An 08:45 from Letchworth to King’s Cross is expected to be introduced early next year, and until then customers will be able to use other trains to complete their journeys.
  • While most services repeat each at an even half-hourly frequency, there will not be an 18:27 departure from London King’s Cross to Letchworth. Unfortunately, we are unable to run a train in that timeslot as it would conflict with long distance services running on the East Coast Main Line at the same time.

Peterborough to London King’s Cross

• Weekday peak Great Northern services between Peterborough and London King’s Cross, which call at Huntingdon, St Neots, Biggleswade and Stevenage, will remain at five services per morning and afternoon/evening.
• The current 08:05 service from Peterborough will be brought forward to provide an earlier fast service, departing Peterborough at 05:43.

Welwyn Garden City / Stevenage via Hertford North to Moorgate

• Some services will have minor timing changes to allow for better connections.
• Two existing weekday morning departures from Gordon Hill towards Moorgate will start from Hertford North to provide additional capacity at Hertford North, Bayford, Cuffley and Crews Hill in the early morning peak.

Thameslink services between Peterborough, Cambridge and London

• Some services will have minor timing changes to allow for better connections.
• Thameslink services between Cambridge and Brighton will stop at the new Cambridge South Station when it opens in early 2026.
• As mentioned above, morning peak Thameslink services between Peterborough and Horsham will stop at Knebworth to provide faster journeys times to London for Knebworth.