I’m delighted to share that the Office of Rail and Road has confirmed that Grand Central Trains will begin stopping at Seaham Station from December 25 to December 26, with four stopping services per day in each direction.

This means that our constituency will now have direct rail links to York and London, alongside increased capacity to local destinations such as Sunderland and Hartlepool.

Although the approval is currently for a one-year period using 5-car trains, I’m confident that these services will be well-used by residents across our community. I’ll continue working closely with Grand Central, Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road to explore potential continuation of these services beyond December 2026.

This is a significant step forward for our area’s connectivity, and I remain committed to campaigning for even better rail links for our whole constituency.