GNER has said its extra services from Leeds and Wakefield to London are carrying thousands of extra passengers each week.

In May, GNER added 12 new weekday services between the two West Yorkshire cities and London, creating a half-hourly, turn-up-and-go frequency every weekday.

GNER now says it has carried almost 60,000 more passengers on the route between the launch of the extra services and the end of July – an increase of eight per cent on the same period last year.

GNER has also seen a 22 per cent increase in the number of passengers making reservations ahead of travelling on the West Yorkshire route – which it says is a reflection of the growing popularity of rail over alternatives such as the road and air among business travellers.

Among the organisations to reap the benefits of the extra services to and from Leeds is Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Some of its players visited Leeds station recently to congratulate GNER’s team on the success of the improved service.

Stewart Regan, chief executive at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, says: “We have a lot of supporters outside of Yorkshire itself. Making it easier to get to and from Leeds means it is much more likely that they’ll want to come here to watch a match.”

Suzanne Donnelly, Revenue Manager at GNER, says: “Increasingly both individuals and companies want to reduce their carbon footprint. The train is often the most environmentally-responsible way to travel.

“It’s not surprising then that more business people are finding it the best way to travel when you couple the environmental benefits with the convenience of city centre to city centre travel and ease with which you can carry on working on our WiFi-equipped trains.”

A number of the new Leeds-Wakefield services also call at other stations on the route. These include Doncaster (nine extra), Newark Northgate (11), Grantham (seven), Peterborough (six) and Stevenage (one).