Midland Main Line’s high-profile service expansion is just one of a number of major improvements in frequency being rolled out with the summer timetable, beginning on May 30. MML will deploy its Class 170/1 Turbostar DMUs from Adtranz to double its London - Derby/Nottingham service to half-hourly, and add through trains from London to York, Barnsley and Burton-on-Trent.

With eight Class 170/2 DMUs arriving from mid-May, Anglia Railways hopes to add several direct services from London, eventually serving Lowestoft (via Beccles), Great Yarmouth (via Norwich) and Bury St Edmunds (via Ipswich). The core London - Norwich service will go half-hourly using Class 322 EMUs leased from WAGN. The Ipswich - Felixstowe service also goes hourly. First Great Eastern is adding 100 trains a week by recasting its off-peak London - Ipswich timetable.

An extra service each hour raises South West Trains’ off-peak frequency on its London - Portsmouth and London - Southampton routes to four per hour. Another corridor to achieve the same service intensity is Northern Spirit’s Leeds - Huddersfield - Manchester TransPennine route.

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