Planned timetable changes unfair, says commuter

A rail passenger who commutes from Durham via Peterborough has said proposed timetable changes for the route are "unfair".

Andrew Rice, from Esh Winning, in County Durham, goes to Lowestoft, in Suffolk, several times a month, and said the plans would add an extra fourth train to his journey.

LNER currently operates hourly weekday services between Durham and Peterborough, but proposals could leave the city without a direct connection to the transport hub between 06:39 and 19:39 from December.

The government-owned franchise said the route was one of its least travelled, and regular connections to York would be available when there were no direct services.

"Taking everything off during the day seems ludicrous," Mr Rice said.

But an LNER spokesperson said the planned changes would bring "millions of additional seats" and faster journeys.

"We have worked closely with the industry to make sure that there is strong local and national connectivity in the planned East Coast Main Line timetable," they added.

Under plans for the route, there would be seven direct services each weekday from Durham to Peterborough and five going back.

LNER said timings were still to be confirmed.

The BBC understands that under the proposals, direct Peterborough services could depart Durham at 04:49, 06:09, 06:39 with four more setting off at 19:39, 20:17, 21:11 and 22:11.

Direct trains from Peterborough to Durham could set off from the Cambridgeshire city at 17:21, 18:21, 20:50, 21:53 and 22:53 .

Mr Rice, who is an off-shore assessor, said he usually travelled on a 10:40 service from Durham to Peterborough, where he takes a train to Norwich and then another one to Lowestoft.

He said the changes would add another train to his journey and possibly require him to set off a day earlier, with potential delays and disruption increasing the chance of missing connections.

"If I had to go down the day before because of all of this, then that's an extra cost to the company and who's going to pay for that," he said.

LNER said the Durham to Peterborough route was one of its least travelled, totalling just 0.13% (combined for both directions) of its journeys between April 2024 and March 2025.

But Mr Rice said there were a lot of regular passengers between the two cities, including professionals and students.

"I would just have to try and go with the flow and work with it. But it's not something you'd want to do, it's not something you should have to do," he added.

"It's almost like Durham's been forgotten about.

"It's going to affect a lot of people and it seems completely unfair."

Other potential timetable changes include reducing direct trains between Durham and Edinburgh by almost a half, but increasing weekday services to London.

The December 2025 timetables will be finalised in the summer.

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