Hull Trains reveals possible Sheffield timetable

Hull Trains has revealed an indicative timetable for its proposed new service between Sheffield and London King’s Cross.

Sheffield hasn’t had a direct rail link with King’s Cross since 1968, but the UK’s first open access operator has submitted plans to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for a new direct train service via Worksop and Retford.

Branded “Sheffield by Hull Trains,” the planned two daily return journeys would call at Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford, with the fastest train timed to take exactly 2 hours, around the same journey time as the fastest EMR trains from St. Pancras to Sheffield via Leicester.

The weekday timetable shows two southbound departures: 0920 from Sheffield, due into King’s Cross at 1144 and a 1654 train, which would reach London at 1914.

The return services from King’s Cross to Sheffield would run non-stop to Retford with the first one planned to leave the capital at 1248, arriving in Sheffield at 1457 and the last train of the day would be the fastest, leaving King’s Cross at 1956 and reaching Sheffield at 2156. There would also be two return services at similar times on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hull Trains believes there is an untapped market which would make this new service worthwhile, saying that an estimated 350,000 people in the Worksop and Woodhouse catchment areas would have direct rail access to London with this planned new service.

The company told RAIL that this is only an indicative timetable, and they hope to receive approval from the ORR later this year. It’s likely that the operator would need to lease trains in the short-term, with a view to an order of new trains in the long-term, if the plans are approved.

Hull Trains says: “Options for trains to be used on the route will be worked up with rolling stock leasing companies. It is anticipated that services could begin in the second half of 2025.”