Hull Trains is to return services withdrawn as the latest Covid measures came in earlier than anticipated.
The move back to working from home and other measures to head off the Omicron variant saw the open access operator temper its resurgence in the period immediately after Christmas.
It has seen uncertainty about a potential further lockdown lead to a significant fall in passenger numbers and future bookings.
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The First Group company has been “monitoring the situation daily” and is now bringing the 1708 Hull to London King’s Cross and 2030 return back from February 7 - five days earlier than first proposed.
David Gibson, managing director, said: “This is really positive news for our business and for passengers of Hull Trains. We can already see that demand has started to return with sales increasing and the numbers of reservations being made on the rise. We will continue to monitor sales and revenue every day and will reinstate all other withdrawn services at the earliest opportunity.”
The reduced timetable came less than a fortnight after the business had introduced its 94th service, the highest service level ever offered in the company’s 21-year history.
It was a remarkable return after three periods of enforced hibernation for the team, as it couldn't make services viable at the height of the pandemic spikes on British life. It saw passenger numbers drop from the one million mark to 300,000, and came as the new £60 million Paragon fleet was fully introduced.
