Open Access Train Operator, Hull Trains, is now running more carriages on its route from Hull and Selby to London.
It has extended 10 carriage trains on a number of its services from Wednesday to Sunday bringing an extra 4,000 seats per week.
Introducing this extra capacity, especially on a Sunday, has been an aspiration of the operator for some time now and it says it is delighted to finally be able to launch these longer trains.
They are run by joining two 5 car Paragons together.
To support these services the local operator has recruited three On Board Managers and On Board hosts to cover the extra carriages.
When the units run as 10 cars there is no access between each set of five so extra staff are needed.
A report released in late 2023 by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), showed that Hull Trains have led the way for long-distance train operators, reporting a 34% growth in journeys compared to the previous year.
This provided further evidence of Hull Trains’ stability and strength with the local open-access operator now delivering 28% more journeys than it was before the pandemic.
Without Hull Trains, Selby would have only one return sevice to London a day provided by LNER.
Louise Mendham, Service Delivery Director at Hull Trains, explained: “Since the start of last year, we have been carefully monitoring our 10 car trials and reviewing the structure of our timetable as a result of a significant increase in demand on our leisure market leading to this decision to introduce the new services.
“These changes will account for one of our biggest timetable transformations for capacity in our 23-year history.”