GNER is to provide more than 1.6 million extra seats every year after being given the green light by the Office of Rail Regulation to run 12 new services each weekday.

The new services will operate between Leeds and London King’s Cross - six in each direction - from Monday 21 May to provide a half-hourly, turn-up-and-go frequency of service between the two cities.

In addition, some or all of the new services will call at Wakefield, Doncaster, Newark North Gate, Grantham, Peterborough and Stevenage, providing new journey opportunities for current and future passengers.

The change represents an increase in the number of GNER services of up to 23% at some stations. Jonathan Metcalfe, chief executive of GNER, said: “We are very pleased to get final approval for these new services between Leeds and London. This means that from 21st May, Leeds will have a similar number of trains to/from London as other major Northern cities such as Newcastle and Manchester. Growing cities and towns including Peterborough, Newark and Wakefield, will also benefit from the extra services. From 21 May GNER will be running 136 services every weekday compared to 100 when we started in 1996. That reflects the significant growth in demand for rail travel over the last ten years.”

Penny Hemming, Regional Director of CBI Yorkshire and Humber, said: “This is good news because the quality, frequency and speed of our rail links to other regions, particularly London, are crucial to growing the Yorkshire economy. “The increase in GNER trains to/from Leeds means we now have a turn-up-and-go service from one of Britain’s fastest growing cities.”

GNER applied for approval for the 12 new services from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), which controls the use of the railway network, in March 2005.

GNER requires two additional High Speed Trains (HSTs) to help operate the 12 new services, and is in discussions with rolling stock owners about leasing suitable units.

Leeds-London, and London-Leeds, are the biggest southbound and northbound markets respectively on GNER (measured by passenger journeys per annum). When GNER started in 1996 there were 37 trains per weekday between Leeds and London, in total in both directions. The 65 services per weekday from May 2007 will represent a 75% increase since 1996. Thirty years ago there were 26 trains per weekday between Leeds and London, in total in both directions.