Cleethorpes to London direct train service takes test run

A daily direct train service operated between Cleethorpes and London King's Cross until the late 1980s

Tests have been carried out to check whether a direct train service to London from Cleethorpes and Grimsby could be reinstated.

Regional MPs have been campaigning for the return of the daily service, which would see direct trains running via Lincoln and Market Rasen.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) completed a test run with a train travelling from Doncaster on Monday.

The company said the service could restart next year.

David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: "This is a really positive step to see whether LNER can reinstate its direct services between Cleethorpes and London King's Cross.

"It is early stages yet and there is a lot more work to do to see whether these services can come back for the first time in decades, but today we have shown that with willpower and cross-industry collaboration, we might be able to see LNER services connect Cleethorpes to London once again."

Mr Horne told the BBC reinstating the direct service, which stopped in the 1990s, could bring "economic benefits" to the region.

Martin Vickers (left) and Lia Nici are among the MPs who have been campaigning for the service, which David Horne (centre) said could "come back for the first time in decades"

LNER said the test, which is called a "validation exercise", involved performing "a series of platform and train validations at each respective station" by a specialist team travelling on the train.

"Any potential new route or extension to an existing route carries a significant level of detailed testing to determine and validate the train's compatibility to safely operate over the network concerned," a spokesperson said.

Sir Edward Leigh, who this month marked his 40th year as an MP for Gainsborough, is among the politicians campaigning for the service. Others include Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers and Great Grimsby MP Lia Nici.