New Train Timetable: A Thousand New Services Introduced Across UK

19 May 2019, 17:32 | Updated: 19 May 2019, 17:33

The summer train timetable has come into effect today with more than a thousand new services being introduced across the country.

New timetables for train services across the UK have come into force today, with rail bosses "confident" there will be no repeat of last year's widespread disruptions.

Commuters on Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern services faced severe delays and cancellations for weeks, with more than 800 services cancelled each day.

This year, the biggest changes will come on South Wester Railway services, with hundreds of extra trains a week taking commuters into London Waterloo station.

But some of those services from the south coast have already been postponed because of technical issues with automatic doors, with an expectation only 10 of the new services will be suspended a week.

SWR Managing Director, Andy Mellors, said: "Until this issue is rectified we cannot put the trains into service and risk passenger injury."

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group said that there may be some "teething problems" but rail operators and Network Rail have worked to implement the new timetables "without impacting reliability".

"The scale of our ambition to improve means that this is a significant challenge and while there may be some teething problems, train operators and Network Rail have worked together to carefully assess where new services can be introduced without impacting reliability.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was heavily criticised for the failure to deliver the timetable changes in May last year, with an investigation by the Office of Rail and Road finding that there was a "lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities" and that "nobody took charge".