East Midlands Trains, working in partnership with South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) and Yorkshire Forward, has today confirmed plans to introduce two trains an hour between Sheffield and London from Monday 14 December. This marks a significant improvement from the current hourly service.

The introduction of these new services means that passengers travelling between Sheffield and London will have the benefit of an additional 24 trains throughout the day, providing greater choice and helping to improve the economic competitiveness of the Sheffield City Region.

Tim Shoveller, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, explains: “We know that good connections to our Capital are a key priority for any major city, and we have been determined to improve Sheffield’s train service to London.  In our last major timetable change in December 2008, we launched significantly improved journey times between Sheffield and London.  And now one year on, we are proud that through genuine partnership working with SYPTE and Yorkshire Forward, we are collectively able to deliver this further major improvement for passengers”

David Young, SYPTE’s Director of Customer Experience, said: “I am excited to welcome these new train services, which follow a number of years’ lobbying and prioritising funds to support this route as passenger numbers have increased. Despite being the country’s fourth largest city, Sheffield has lagged behind other major urban centres in having good links to London – this has held back economic growth. It is therefore vital for us to have secured an improved train service to London which will be a significant boost to the region’s economy. Sincere thanks go to Yorkshire Forward and East Midlands Trains for their help and support”.