Book National Express East Coast Train Tickets online using the Rail Easy™ train ticket price check and Rail Saver online reservation system to find the cheapest available East Coast Train ticket price on your selected route at your preferred travel times on the National Rail network.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is the electrified high-speed railway link between London, Yorkshire, North East England and Edinburgh. The East Coast route forms a key artery on the eastern side of Great Britain and is broadly paralleled by the A1 trunk road.
Using the RailEasy™ train ticket price checker and Rail Saver reservation service to complete an online East Coast Trains train ticket reservation is quick and easy.
Rail Saver will find you the cheapest available East Coast Trains train ticket price and book your East Coast train tickets in a few quick easy steps using the Rail Easy™ price check and Rail Saver booking engine.
Rail Saver finds the most cost effective East Coast Trains fares for your rail journey quickly and easilly. Enjoy more rail travel for less when you use Rail Saver to book your National Express East Coast train tickets online.
National Express East Coast is the name under which the train operating company NXEC Trains Ltd operates the InterCity East Coast rail franchise, which includes services in England and Scotland. NXEC Trains Ltd is a subsidiary of National Express Group and was awarded the East Coast Main Line franchise after the parent company of previous franchise holder GNER suffered financial difficulties.
The National Express East Coast rail franchise, which covers services connecting London with Scotland via Peterborough, Leeds and Newcastle, will start on December 9 and run until March 31, 2015 with the last 17 months conditional on performance levels being reached.
National Express East Coast operate all of the same East Coast routes and services and call at the same stations that GNER previously served on the East Mainline.
The major railway stations served by National Express East Coast railways are:-
Leeds - In the last few years, Leeds has become Britain’s capital of cool, known as the "Knightsbridge of the North" and the "Style City of the North".
London - No other city comes close to stealing London's crown. It's bold, it's brash and it's very, very big.
Newcastle - Newcastle and Gateshead–linked by the stunning white arch of the Millennium Bridge–have swapped coal for culture to become a major centre for the arts.
Glasgow - Glasgow has an energy and excitement that has put it at the forefront of all that is cutting edge.
York - With its towering spires, winding lanes and cobbled streets, York is one of the country's most beautiful cities.
Edinburgh - Built upon volcanic crags overlooking the wide sweep of the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh's setting is unashamedly romantic.
National Express East Coast Trains Service Patterns
In off-peak times, there are three or four trains per hour to and from Kings Cross. The following details apply to weekday operations.
National Express East Coast Rail Principal Routes
London–Newcastle–Edinburgh
A half-hourly service between Kings Cross and Newcastle operates for most of the day, departing from London on the hour and on the half hour. The ‘top of the hour’ departures continue through to Edinburgh (with the 10:00 keeping the traditional name Flying Scotsman), with some running on to either Glasgow Central, Aberdeen or Inverness. These trains generally run as limited-stop expresses between London and Newcastle: all trains call at York, and most at Peterborough and Darlington, though afternoon and evening departures from Kings Cross run non-stop to Doncaster and/or York. The trains leaving Kings Cross on the half hour generally terminate at Newcastle and serve other intermediate stations such as Grantham, Newark, Retford, Doncaster and Durham as well as Peterborough, York, and Darlington.
London–Leeds
The service between Kings Cross and Leeds is generally half-hourly, with trains serving most main intermediate stations.
London-Edinburgh-Glasgow
National Express East Coast operate ten trains per day between Kings Cross and Glasgow. With the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow to 125mph now complete, National Express East Coast can't compete with Virgin Trains on this route when it comes to journey times (still 5hrs 30mins compared to the new 4hrs 25min time on the WCML), but they do provide a useful link from Glasgow to Newcastle and York and a secondary route for use when the WCML is closed for engineering work.
Other routes
Aberdeen
There are three trains per day each way between Kings Cross and Aberdeen, the journey time being just over seven hours. There is also one service per day arriving at Aberdeen from Leeds. These services are operated by HST sets, as the line between Edinburgh and Aberdeen is not electrified.
Inverness
A daily service operates between Kings Cross and Inverness, called the Highland Chieftain, a journey taking just over eight hours. This route is operated with diesel HSTs, as the line north of Edinburgh is not electrified.
Hull
National Express East Coast run the Hull Executive between Hull and Kings Cross, with one morning journey to London and one evening journey to Hull. Since the branch to Hull is not electrified, this route too is operated using diesel HST sets. Hull Trains run more direct services between Hull and London.
Bradford
There are two trains per day between Kings Cross and Bradford Forster Square. These are extensions of the Kings Cross–Leeds services and usually utilise the ‘Mallard’ electric sets.
Skipton
There is a morning train from Skipton and Keighley to Kings Cross with an early evening return. As is the case with the Bradford trains, this is an extension to the Leeds–London service. Though the line to Skipton is electrified throughout, the National Express East Coast service to/from the town is operated using a diesel HST because the electrical infrastructure on the Leeds to Skipton line is insufficient to support National Express East Coast's trains.
Harrogate
There is a Monday-Saturday morning HST departure from Harrogate to Kings Cross. However, there is no return journey so passengers are required to change at Leeds or York on to Northern Rail services to Harrogate. The Saturday running of this service is the week's only National Express East Coast southbound service from Leeds not to call at Wakefield Westgate. This service departs from Leeds and heads along the Selby line to join the East Coast Main Line at Hambleton.
Future Routes
From December 2010 National Express East Coast rail will be introducing:
• A new two-hourly direct Lincoln-London service via Newark, Grantham and Peterborough.
• An additional train to York every two hours, providing better connections at intermediate stations. This new London route will be a direct route to London on the East Coast mainline via Newark, Grantham and Peterborough.
National Express East Coast Train Stations
National Express East Coast have also taken over the management of the 12 stations on the route previously operated by GNER.
These stations are:
Berwick upon Tweed
Darlington
Doncaster
Dunbar
Durham
Grantham
Newark (Northgate)
Newcastle upon Tyne
Peterborough
Retford
Wakefield (Westgate)
York
National Express East Coast Service Improvements
NXEC Trains are all being upgraded to make your journey even more comfortable. service enhancements that you will notice are, amongst other:-
Free WiFi service extended to the whole train, not just first class.
For the first time an offer to customers who have pre-booked tickets and have a seat reservation, to provide a refund for the fare for the leg of the journey if a seat is not available.
Mobile phone real time travel information.
Print at home tickets and tickets via mobile phone.
An updated catering offer combining the best of the traditional, retaining restaurants and with contemporary foods which will be available to first class and to standard class passengers.
Introduction of Smartcard technology to make buying tickets simpler.
Spending £2 million on providing up to 33% more car parking spaces during the franchise term.
Car parking payments by mobile phone, and by pre-payments using a system which will remember payment details and car registration.
Welcome to National Express East Coast, the new operator of the Inter City East Coast franchise previously operated by GNER. We're delighted to have been chosen to run the UK's premier intercity train service which links the capital cities of England and Scotland and many other important regional and historic cities in between.