GRAND Central, the British open-access subsidiary of Arriva, says it is submitting an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to introduce a new direct service between Newcastle and Brighton via Gatwick Airport.
Arriva says its application makes use of under-utilised capacity on the network and includes proposals to operate five trains per day in each direction. This would be the first direct route between Newcastle and Brighton, removing the need for passengers to change trains in London. Arriva is hoping to introduce the first services from December 2026 and notified infrastructure manager Network Rail of its intention on April 24.
The proposed service 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.
Arriva says the application is part of its wider plans to strengthen regional connectivity and make better use of available rail capacity. The operator has also submitted an application to introduce a direct open-access service from London to Grimsby and Cleethorpes in northeast Lincolnshire, to add two additional daily return services on its Bradford - London service, and another between York and London. As well as these routes, Grand Central also operates a Sunderland - London service.
The operator also confirmed an order with Hitachi Rail for a fleet of nine five-car tri-mode trains to replace its diesel fleet earlier this month.
“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 £300m in a new battery hybrid train fleet for our existing routes, further underlining our commitment and ambition for rail in the UK,” says Paul Hutchings, managing director of Arriva UK Trains’ Rail Services.
