Proposals to operate direct train services between Newcastle and Brighton have been announced.
Arriva Group said the trains would run under its Grand Central brand and call at stations such as York, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, Oxford, Reading and Gatwick airport.
It is submitting an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for permission to launch the services.
Arriva Group said five services per day in each direction could begin running from December 2026.
It would call at: Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Northallerton, York, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby, Burton-on-Trent, Birmingham New Street, Warwick Parkway, Banbury, Oxford, Reading, Wokingham, Guildford, Redhill, London Gatwick, Haywards Heath and Brighton.
It would provide a “more efficient, affordable and sustainable travel option”, according to Arriva Group.
Paul Hutchings, managing director of Arriva UK Trains’ rail services, said: “We’re committed to connecting communities and enabling more people to travel in ways that are convenient and sustainable, so we’re very pleased to be submitting this application for the first direct service between Newcastle and Brighton, opening up new travel opportunities and making better use of available network capacity – all while building on Grand Central’s proud history of connecting traditionally underserved communities.
“This is an exciting time for Grand Central’s growth story and follows the extension of our existing access rights to 2038 as well as the recent announcement of an investment of around £300 million in a new battery hybrid train fleet for our existing routes, further underlining our commitment and ambition for rail in the UK.”
Grand Central runs services connecting Sunderland and Bradford with London King’s Cross.
Most train operators in England are paid a management fee, with the UK Government holding responsibility for costs and revenue.
Open access operators receive no taxpayer-funded subsidies and take on all revenue risk.
Next month, the Department for Transport will begin bringing all services under public ownership as existing contracts expire.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has expressed concerns that the open access model can cause “potential congestion” and result in taxpayers being “left to fill shortfalls” in infrastructure maintenance costs.
The cabinet minister wrote to ORR chairman Declan Collier in January, stating it is her “expectation” that “the impacts on the taxpayer and on overall performance” are “given primacy” by the regulator when it analyses proposals.
While acknowledging that open access can “open up new markets, drive innovation and offer choice to passengers”, she insisted there is “a balance to be struck”.
This is great news! As someone who regularly travels between Brighton and t’north, not having to spend an hour or two changing trains at Kings Cross will be a blessing. I hope it goes ahead!
There used to be a service to Manchester but it took forever as it went the long way round London. It was two hours quicker to go to London and get the tube to Euston.
It takes less than 5 miniutes to cross from St Pancras to King’s Cross!
There’s a reason they’re rated 1.8 on Trip Advisor. Clapped out trains. Toilets seldom working. Broken seats, little food, first class gets you a bottle of water and occasionally some crisps, never arrive on time. The list goes on.
Yes please
It’s not going to be a fast journey and would have to compete with Thameslink from Brighton to Stevenage and switch platforms for Lumo to Newcastle and on to Edinburgh.
Fortunately it doesn’t go via Stevenage 🙂
Thameslink and Lumo do allowing the journey with a single change.
A quick calculation estimates Grand Central would take about 8 hours for the journey whereas Lumo (or LNER) and Thameslink would take just over 4 hours.
You can drive from Brighton to Newcastle in 6 hours.
No thanks.
That route is an absolute killer as it swings through the country.
I’ll stick to Thameslink to St Pancras and then LNER to Teesside.
Maybe Brighton to Newcastle is a bit of a stretch but Brighton directly to Guildford and reading is much needed. It’s an absolute hassle going into London to come out again instead of going directly
Um you can change at Gatwick rather than in London!
Brighton to Oxford fast route would be good via Reading. It taked ages at the moment with 2 changes and so slow from Gatwick to Reading. From Reading one can pick up the fast train down to Devon and Cornwall. About time Eurostar or another train stopped at Ashford and Emsfleet. Outrageous that these new stations are wasted and to pick up Eurostar we have to go up to London and come back. Waste of time and resources.
They used to stop at Ebsfleet, went from there once after driving from Brighton. Was a great trip.
It would be better if CrossCountry did this route since they did a Brighton-Manchester service, yeah, XC, restore your Brighton route
They are not creating new routes! They are re establishing old routes. Big deal. Wow! Just get on with it.
Honestly, Grand Central and others have proposed a dozen of these services. Unfortunately, this is just going to be one in a long list of services which probably isn’t going to get anywhere, not with Heidi Alexander hating open access operators as much as she seems to. Ultimately, most of those destinations can already be accessed by Thameslink with 1 change anyway (E.G getting out at St Pancras, and walking across the road to King’s Cross), and with long journey times having to go through the West rather than East Midlands, this isn’t a sufficiently worthwhile service for Heidi Alexander to ever want. I don’t dispute it would be better to have than not, but no one in Brighton should actually hold their breath for this to be approved.
Don’t call at Doncaster, go directly to York from Sheffield via Pontefract Baghill.
How long will the journey take and how much will it cost?, not to mention how frequent the trains will be
Proposed frequency is listed in the 4th paragraph.
Wouldn’t it be great if UK public transport actually worked and was affordable?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just get on a train in Brighton, and to arrive in Manchester, or Newcastle, or even Edinburgh – and with no hassle, disruption, or station changes in London?
Then there’s those unaffordable ticket prices of course. If there are two of you, or with a family of three of four, it’s always cheaper to drive.
Let’s hope this proposal works.
I have had problems with these services in the past, such as any train going to the coast as they charge more because it is a seaside resort, you just have to look at pricing system when booking to find this out. Although I like the idea of a service from Newcastle to Brighton I feel the ticket price and accommodation would only benefit the few not the many ! I used to live in brighton and I think you now need between £150-£400 each just for a weekend such as food and entertainment, not including accommodation, and I absolutely love the way they say affordable ticket prices ! Affordable for who may I ask ! The CEO of ….. and I have just checked a train from Newcastle to Brighton buying in advance 27th June £ 200.80 and ret £218.80 based on two persons so £418.60 for travel. So no I don’t think that this route will take off as there is cheaper ways of going to Brighton from Newcastle.