British commuters are about to benefit from an extra 690 longer, faster trains thanks to a new winter timetable announced by the Department for Transport.
The new winter timetable, which will be introduced on December 14, will see an extra 690 trains running on the network every day. This will constitute a 3.4% increase across England on weekdays, a 5.2% increase on Saturdays and a 7.6% increase in trains running on Sundays.
UK Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said that it was vital to keep up with the growth in the popularity of rail travel.
"This new timetable will see many more trains running every day, many of them originally specified by the Government and now being introduced by franchised train operators," he said.
"In all, there will be 20% more trains than ten years ago."
The new additions to the service will also see the opening of new stations in Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Buckinghamshire, Corby, Northamptonshire, East Midlands Parkway and Laurencekirk.
Under the new timetable eight additional towns and cities will have direct through trains to London: Alsager, in Cheshire, Atherstone, in Warwickshire, Corby, in Northants, Ivybridge, in Devon, Lincoln, and in Staffordshire, Rugeley, Stone and Kidsgrove.
By Daniel Garrun.
