Arriva Group will today notify Network Rail that it is submitting an open access application to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for direct services between Cleethorpes, Grimsby and London, making use of Grand Central’s existing open access route to Doncaster and extending the service to new underserved areas.
The proposals are expected to be welcomed by communities, businesses and organisations in East Lincolnshire, who have been campaigning for the reintroduction of direct rail links to London, with Cleethorpes not having a direct service for over 30 years.
If approved, the extended route will provide additional capacity and improved connectivity with four new return services per day and over 775,000 additional seats annually made available between Cleethorpes, Grimsby and London’s Kings Cross.
Amanda Furlong, interim managing director of Arriva’s UK Trains division said: “Arriva wants to make travelling by train as accessible as possible and this proposal will offer a much-needed, direct connection between major Lincolnshire towns and the capital, providing significant connectivity benefits for communities and businesses and driving long-term economic growth for the region”.
As well as providing additional capacity, Grand Central’s proposed new connections could unlock significant economic benefits, with a study by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership estimating a Cleethorpes-London service could generate up to £30.1 million annually for the region.
In addition to this application to expand services in Lincolnshire, Grand Central has previously submitted two other applications with the ORR, including proposals for two extra daily return services between Bradford and London and an early morning and late evening return from York to London. The operator also has an outstanding application to extend its existing track access rights until 2038.
Arriva is committed to encouraging the shift to passenger transport by providing sustainable solutions which encourage communities to use alternatives to private vehicles.
The group’s open access operator, Grand Central, provides connections to under-served communities, making effective use of unused network capacity to provide value-for-money services without government funding.
Image credit: Arriva
