Extra trains to run on line at peak travel times

More peak time trains will run on a key route by the end of 2028 after government funding was secured.

At the moment, Transpennine Express (TPE) operates hourly services between York and Scarborough, via Malton and Seamer.

But David Skaith, the Labour mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said an additional service would run in each direction in the morning and evening to meet demand at peak travel time.

He added: "For too long, commuters have needed more flexibility, and these extra morning and evening services are a major step towards our goal of a half-hourly service connecting the coast to the city."

Skaith added that the extra trains would be a "landmark step towards better connectivity right across the north".

He has campaigned for a half-hourly service since becoming the region's first ever mayor in 2024.

Speaking at Scarborough Station, he said the next step towards that goal would be to "monitor how successful it will be - I've got no guarantee it will be".

"Then it's going back to government all the time, to the Treasury, the transport department, and saying 'actually, we want more from this'."

The services introduced from December 2028 will depart York at 06:35, Scarborough at 07:30, York at 17:35 and Scarborough at 18:30.

Skaith said developments were taking place at locations along the line, so additional services would "open up opportunities".

"We know so many people don't use public transport and don't use rail. It isn't reliable enough and when it's an hourly service, people just don't commit to it so they drive on the A64."

Alison Hume, Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said the additional services would "open up opportunity", enabling more people to travel to and from work in York.

"Similarly, young people and people of all ages can take up the opportunities offered in Scarborough by a lot of our big employers."

Hume said Scarborough depended on its links to York.

"I'm a commuter myself. I sit at York Station when I come up from Westminster, waiting for that one train an hour and it's just not good enough."

Last month, TPE said the route had seen record passenger numbers in the financial year 2024-25.

More than 263,000 train journeys were made between York and Scarborough, compared with 66,000 in 2020-21, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

TPE's managing director Chris Jackson said he was "delighted" to deliver the additional trains.

He said it would not be possible to deliver the additional trains before December 2028 because "the railways are quite complicated".

"It takes quite a long time to recruit train drivers - 18 months to two years - but with the announcement today it means we can start that recruitment for new drivers and new conductors at both Scarborough and York."

Jackson said he recognised the "mayoral ambition to go half-hourly all day" and that the new peak time services were a "great opportunity to test the case".

Passengers at Scarborough Station said the service would benefit from changes.

Steve Whalen travels two or three times a week to Leeds, Harrogate, Liverpool and Manchester for work.

He said: "The biggest issue is the reliability of early morning trains, with staff not there and trains getting cancelled.

"Especially when you're travelling a distance, you need to be leaving at half five or six every morning and if they get cancelled it's catastrophic."

Gemma Flood, 48, said she travels on average twice a month, for "some work, some leisure".

"Getting out is absolutely fine. No problem at all, generally they're all on time."

She said returns from York to Scarborough were "more complicated" and she had paid for taxis on two occasions when trains were cancelled.

Margaret Wilson, 25, said she often arrived at work an hour earlier than necessary, what was "frustrating".

She added that half-hourly trains would "help me out massively".

"I wouldn't have to get up as early."

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