LNER put on special trains for Lincoln Christmas Market

A special weekend timetable with longer trains and extra seats has been announced by LNER ahead of the Lincoln Christmas Market, which starts in exactly one month.

The City of Lincoln Council said earlier this autumn that it is “full steam ahead” planning for this Christmas Market being held between December 2 and 5, after last year’s festive extravaganza was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

LNER’s Lincoln Christmas Market timetable will see nine-coach Azuma trains stop at Lincoln station on their way to and from London King’s Cross. This is instead of the previous five-coach train used during the Christmas Market and will mean around 300 more seats will be available.

Previous proposals to cancel London to Lincoln trains over the market weekend for engineering works were scrapped. Lincoln MP Karl McCartney told reporters he brought concerns about cancellations to the attention of the Department for Transport in an effort to resolve the issue.

The new timetable has been confirmed.

LNER’s special weekend timetable

Saturday, December 4 (Northbound)
• 11:00 London King’s Cross to Inverness via Lincoln at 12:44
• 11:30 London King’s Cross to Leeds via Lincoln at 13:21
• 13:30 London King’s Cross to Leeds via Lincoln at 15:19
• 16:30 London King’s Cross to Edinburgh via Lincoln at 18:14
• 19:00 London King’s Cross to Newcastle via Lincoln at 20:44

Saturday, December 4 (Southbound)
• 06:56 Skipton to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 09:01
• 09:45 Leeds to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 11:01
• 09:52 Aberdeen to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 16:01
• 17:45 Leeds to London King’s cross via Lincoln at 19:01
• 14:52 Aberdeen to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 21:07

Sunday, December 5 (Northbound)
• 09:00 London King’s Cross to Aberdeen via Lincoln at 10:45
• 11:00 London King’s Cross to Inverness via Lincoln at 12:44
• 14:00 London King Cross to Leeds via Lincoln at 15:46
• 19:00 London King’s Cross to Newcastle via Lincoln at 20:47
• 20:00 London King’s Cross to Leeds via Lincoln at 21:44

Sunday, December 5 (Southbound)• 09:40 Leeds to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at [service and stopping time TBC]
• 09:56 Newcastle to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 12:05
• 09:40 Inverness to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 17:17
• 17:42 Leeds to London King’s Cross via Lincoln at 18:57

Unlike the regular service for the market that would terminate in London, there are also direct services from locations including Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness. This comes after LNER worked with Network Rail to come up with a solution for the Christmas Market after reviewing and reflection on its previous service.

Due to key upgrades on the East Coast Main Line on Saturday and Sunday, December 4 and 5, LNER trains between Doncaster and Peterborough will be on diversionary routes with replacement coaches provided for people travelling to/from Grantham, Newark North Gate and Retford.

Complementing the rail services will be direct replacement coaches between Lincoln and Peterborough with a separate coach service linking Grantham, Newark North Gate and Retford.

East Midlands Railway will also be running its services to/from Lincoln on the Saturday as these are unaffected by the engineering work.

Warrick Dent, Director of Safety and Operations at LNER, said: “I am pleased we have been able to work with the local community in Lincoln and our partners at Network Rail and the Department for Transport to ensure that direct rail services can be provided to the traditional Lincoln Christmas Market.

“These services are expected to be extremely busy, so customers are encouraged to book early via the LNER website to avoid disappointment. We strongly recommend customers have a seat reservation for each service to make sure they can fully enjoy the journey to and from the city.”

Lincoln MP Karl McCartney said he had made a request for previous plans to be changed, as well as lobbying of his ministerial colleagues at the Department of Transport. He claims this is what led to LNER creating the special timetable.

He said: “Following my raising significant concerns about their plans, I am pleased that LNER and Network Rail saw sense and reinstated some railway services to Lincoln from London and elsewhere over the weekend of our wonderful and world-famous Christmas Market.

“Whilst I thank for them of course for being flexible and creative in changing their plans, it is important that in subsequent years we always have a full direct railway service from London and elsewhere to Lincoln so I hope this situation never arises again.”