Timetable changes for Corby and Kettering rail passengers as Wellingborough miss out on Intercity service

New timetables that will see changes to services from Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough trains have been confirmed for a May 2021 introduction.

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has published the findings of the passenger consultation that will have been used to produce the new timetable.

Wellingborough commuters will be the main losers as the faster Intercity train services will no longer stop at the station with the station being served by the EMR Electrics services.

However, commuters' gripes have been listened to and those travelling to Bedford from Wellingborough, and back, will no longer have to use the much-despised railbus - passengers will be able to catch a twice-hourly rail service.

Will Rogers, managing director of East Midlands Railway, said: "The May 2021 timetable is a completely new timetable for services to and from London St Pancras International.

"Overall, it will provide more seats, quicker journeys, earlier morning and later evening services as well as better and more frequent connections to airports.

"This is made possible by the £1.5 billion Midland Main Line Upgrade and the introduction of our electric train services between London and Corby."

The 12-week consultation, that began in February 2020, received more than 2,300 responses but publication was delayed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

After timetables have been loaded into rail industry-wide systems, such as National Rail and the EMR website, the timetable will come into force on Sunday, May 16

Wellingborough will see the most change with EMR acknowledging in the consultation saying "we understand these changes are significant".

Of the 2,300 respondents to the consultation, 414 people (18 per cent) claimed Wellingborough as their home station.

Wellingborough station will only be served by the new EMR Electric trains that will provide trains to and from London every 30 minutes throughout the day with all southbound services calling at Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras International and all northbound calling at Kettering and Corby.

Explaining why the Wellingborough Intercity service had been stopped, EMR said: "By stopping both of our Nottingham services at Kettering, we are able to offer a consistent and repeatable journey pattern for the maximum number of passengers.

"We recognise that passengers from Wellingborough feel disadvantaged by losing their regular Intercity services to/ from London.

"However, the new services will provide more seats, a better and more even spread of departure times all day, every day and keep journey times to and from London comfortably under one hour, as they are today."

On weekdays, there will be two northbound Intercity services - one to Sheffield (at around 6.40am) and one to Nottingham (at around 7.50am).

EMR said: "We are able to make these changes because these services have some spare time in their schedules, meaning that end-to-end journey times for other passengers are unaffected and does not impact overall performance. Returning, we have been able to identify one return service from Sheffield and two from Nottingham Again, these can be introduced because these services have spare time in their schedules. These timings are subject to final approval by Network Rail.

EMR added that there would be more seat availability on the EMR Electrics service at peak times 'as these trains will have started at Corby as opposed to Nottingham or Sheffield'. They also reassured passengers that because of the loss of the direct trains, customers would have to wait at Kettering station to pick up their connecting service.

EMR said: "Passengers travelling from anywhere south of Kettering to north of Kettering will know that they will be able to make a northbound connection, twice an hour at the same times, every hour, all day. We acknowledge that some passengers will be disappointed to lose a direct service but the new timetable has carefully coordinated interchange times at Kettering meaning overall journey times remain very similar to today.

"The consultation said that in some instances, there would be 30-minute connections at Kettering but since the publication of the consultation, we have been working with Network Rail and other train operators to improve this issue."

Some passengers could face a 33-minute wait. The 7.50am departure from St Pancras arrives at Kettering at 8.51am. The next EMR Intercity departure is the 9.24am to Nottingham.

The average connection is eight minutes northbound (with a minimum of five minutes) and 16-18 minutes southbound.

Mr Rogers said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation and help us to shape our final timetable submissions to Network Rail.

"Clearly, Coronavirus has had a significant impact on all of our lives since the consultation closed and earlier this year we announced the timetable change planned for December 2020 will have to be postponed until May 2021.

"This was a difficult decision but absolutely the right one to allow the infrastructure improvements to be completed and for the vital training to be delivered safely. Although we are on track to introduce this new timetable in May it is also fair to say coronavirus is still a major consideration for all of us.

"Therefore, it is possible some of the plans outlined here may still change. If that happens, we will inform you as soon as possible."

Corby travellers will no longer have to leave London early to catch the last train and will have more regular service from the station: There will be

• More than double the number of services to and from London St Pancras International than today.

• Consistent timetable with services every 30 minutes.

• Improved connectivity to Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway.

• First train arrives into London over one hour 30 minutes earlier than today.

• Last train leaves London over four hours later than today.

Local rail campaigner David Fursdon said: ”The uplift to a service every 30 minutes is a bonus for Corby. Some Corby rail users had to drive to Kettering to get the train because of the timetables. I'm pleased with the changes and welcome it - they listened to our concerns.

"The EMR Electrics will provide fast, cleaner, greener, comfortable journeys and offering more seats. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they have had time to refurbish them before they are put into service in May. "

Kettering will become an interchange for passengers wanting to change to local services to complete their journeys. Timetable changes will:

• Nearly double the number of services to and from London St Pancras International.

• Two services per hour to Nottingham.

• Quicker journey times to London St Pancras International on EMR Intercity services.

• First train arrives into London approximately 20 minutes earlier than today.

• Last train leaves London at a similar time to today

Market Harborough commuters will benefit from quicker peak journey times to London St Pancras International with the first train arriving into London approximately 45 minutes earlier than today. The last train will leave London at a similar time to today with the fastest off-peak journey times to London being under one hour.