London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has now made tickets available for the new services on their website, with journeys available from Monday the 13th of December 2021.
The new services are daily weekday services both to and from Middlesbrough and London King's Cross, and also Thornaby and London King's Cross creating a direct link to the capital.
The new Azuma services are the first phase of brand new trains connecting Teesside and London.
The services will leave Middlesbrough at 7:08 am and Thornaby 7 minutes later at 7:15 am with arrival at London King's Cross arriving at 10:22 am. Services heading north will leave London at 15:25 pm stopping off at York and arriving at Thornaby at 18:08pm and 10 minutes later in Middlesbrough at 18:18 pm
LNER plans for future direct services which will be put in place once works being planned by Network Rail are fully completed at Middlesbrough Station.
Driver training for the new services is already underway, as reported back in June.
The benefits of the new services are that passengers will not need to change trains during their journey providing them with an opportunity to make the most of their travel time by using free onboard Wi-Fi to catch up on emails, enjoying the onboard cafe bar or the ‘Lets Eat at Your Seat' facility which is an LNER exclusive service allowing customers to order refreshments directly from their seat.
Advance single tickets booked online for Middlesbrough to London are available from £20.60 for Standard Class and £60 for First Class and can be purchased at www.lner.co.uk.
The LNER Azuma fleet brings notable environmental benefits with the bi-mode Azuma trains using overhead electric cables from Northallerton to London.
David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “Our new Azuma services will not only help transform the customer experience for those who travel between Middlesbrough and London but open up new economic opportunities for the town and wider area.
“The new, direct services from December will see journey times of around three hours between London and Middlesbrough, offering more opportunities for business travel, tourists and international visitors wanting to travel to the Tees Valley.”
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Sounds good to see Middlesborough on the LNER list. Scarborough, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Skegness and Hartlepool should also be next on the list if LNER is to expand their network.