The mainline rail company's proposals include 25 new direct services to and from London, creating at least 7,000 extra seats a day on the flagship East Coast route from December 2009.

The plans – which are subject to regulatory approval – include:
* A new service every two hours to and from Lincoln, additionally serving Market Rasen, Grimsby and Cleethorpes once a day;
* An extra service every two hours between Harrogate, Pannal, Horsforth, Leeds, Garforth and London;
* An extra service every hour direct from Bradford Forster Square to Leeds and London, by extending some Leeds services;
possible extra services from Skipton and the Aire Valley, subject to electricity supply issues being tackled by Network Rail

The company said the average city-to-city journey time between Leeds and London would fall to 2 hours 10 minutes (from 2 hours 20 minutes), thanks to a new, even interval timetable with a more balanced spread of fast and frequent services.

The plans are said to be the biggest improvement to the East Coast timetable since the route was electrified in 1991.
National Express East Coast managing director David Franks said: "As an experienced train operator, our proposals offer a great solution for rail passengers, taxpayers and national and regional economies along our route.

"We are proposing a new, even interval timetable with a more balanced spread of fast and frequent services. Our proposals are unique in that they spread the benefit of additional services throughout the East Coast route, including to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire."

National Express East Coast has formally submitted an application to the Office of Rail Regulation to run 25 new services to and from London from December 2009. The new services are subject to regulatory approval, and face competition from 'open access' operators for the limited available track capacity from Yorkshire southwards.

To run its proposed services, National Express East Coast would lease Class 180 'Adelante' diesel trains, capable of 125 mph running, in addition to its existing fleets of refurbished diesel and electric trains.