Sunderland council unites in call to protect direct London trains and wants LNER to revive axed service

Rail links between Sunderland and the capital were the focus of the most recent full meeting of Sunderland City Council, following major changes announced last year.

This included rail operator LNER scrapping its direct Sunderland to Kings Cross service “due to low passenger numbers and a lack of trains”, with the service instead starting from Newcastle.

Sunderland’s Conservative councillors launched a motion on Wednesday (January 22, 2025) raising concerns about the Labour Government’s rail nationalisation plans and fears that private ‘open access’ operators would have “track access removed” or lose priority to nationalised services in future.

In this context, Conservative councillors flagged potential impacts on Sunderland’s Grand Central rail link to London and called for the council’s Labour leaders to lobby the Government on the issue.

This included the council leader writing to the Secretary of State for Transport urging her to “protect” the Sunderland-London rail link and to “engage with Grand Central and provide the support necessary to ensure the long-term future of the service”.

The motion, proposed by councillor Dominic McDonough, described the Grand Central service as “incredibly important” for its economic benefits to Sunderland, as well as providing competition which has “cut prices and driven up standards on the East Coast Main Line”.

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The councillor said Grand Central had submitted a new “track access agreement” application to secure the service to Sunderland until 2037, with plans for “bigger, faster and more environmentally-friendly” trains.

Cllr McDonough added: “As a council we must speak with one voice and support this application, as if it is refused, it would see our London rail link removed.

“The rail link is vital to our future growth and its loss would have a massive economic impact, as well as wiping us off the railway map and relegating us to a railway backwater.

“Refusal would also be a huge sign that the Government have no interest in open access operators, who have introduced new routes to many communities across the country who had previously lost their services under British Rail.

“Track access applications consider many things and the views of local authorities along the route are highly valued when these decisions are being made, we must let the Government know how important this service is for our city and its future growth and that their inaction could cost us dearly.”

The Wearside Liberal Democrats submitted an amendment to the Conservative motion to make representations to the Office of Road and Rail, as well as the Secretary of State, and to lobby the Government to “take steps to require LNER to reintroduce direct [and more frequent] services between Sunderland and London”.

Councillor Paul Edgeworth, leader of the Wearside Liberal Democrats, said the amended motion aimed to “make sure Sunderland gets the best possible rail service for a mix of both open access operators and direct LNER services”.

Michael Mordey, Labour leader of Sunderland City Council, proposed an adjournment to the meeting to discuss the amendment with opposition councillors, with a view of incorporating elements into a cross-party motion.

When the council meeting restarted, the Liberal Democrats withdrew their amendment in what Cllr Edgeworth described as a “rare show of cross-party unity.”

A new motion, described as a “cross-party amendment”, was then presented to the meeting by Labour council leader, Michael Mordey.

This included the council “urging the Government to give assurances that open access operators will not be forced off the network” and to “emphasise the importance of open access for Sunderland to the Office of Road and Rail”.

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The motion, which was agreed unanimously by all political groups on the council, also called for “steps to require LNER to reintroduce direct services between Sunderland and London.”

It was agreed that the council would “engage with Grand Central and provide the support necessary to ensure the long-term future of the service.”

Sunderland City Council’s leader is also expected to write to the Secretary of State for Transport and the chair of the shadow Great British Railways to “impress upon them the benefit to Sunderland of our current open access operator” and to highlight how this is in line with the Government’s stated rail policy.

Cllr Mordey told the meeting: “The rail link to Sunderland is vitally important to our growing economy and it’s something that we need to protect.

“That’s why I’m happy to write to the chair of Great British Railways and to the Secretary of State to reiterate what is the stated policy of the Government that open access rail operators are part of our network.

“The benefits to Sunderland over the time we have had Grand Central is immeasurable.

“I’m able to work across the chamber to emphasise that we want to see rail services to Sunderland improve and expand, not just north-south to London but east-west as well to Manchester, Liverpool and the Midlands.

“This is an issue I’m sure we can all agree on […] we can speak with a united voice to the Government about how we believe rail is in the future of Sunderland.”

Conservative councillor Dominic McDonough, closing the debate, said it was “refreshing” to see councillors come together on the issue.

“Hopefully we have the rail link to London for many many years to come and hopefully tonight’s meeting and all coming together will bring that a little bit closer as well,” he added.