London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has confirmed the company’s state-of-the-art Azuma trains will be introduced on the route connecting London King’s Cross with

Skipton from today.

The first Azuma train from London to Skipton will be the weekday 18:03 service from King’s Cross; arriving into Skipton at 21:19.

The news follows the first Azuma service from London to Bradford being introduced on the route from Saturday, June 8.

The northbound Saturday service departing King’s Cross at 19:33, arriving into Bradford Forster Square at 22:18 will now be operated by an Azuma.

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “The launch of the first Azuma trains to Skipton and Bradford is another step forward in our transformation of the route in delivering a world-class experience for customers.

“The new Azuma trains are already proving popular with customers who are able to enjoy improved reliability, greater levels of comfort and an average of 100 more seats on every train compared to the current fleet.”

A fleet of 65 new Azuma trains are being introduced on the prestigious East Coast route to replace the existing fleet of 45 trains operated by LNER over the coming 12 months.

Leeds and Hull were among the first destinations to welcome Azuma services from May 2019.

From improved WiFi and extra leg-room to being more environmentally friendly and accessible to more people, the Azuma experience is a revolution in rail travel being introduced on the route connecting London with Yorkshire.

Azuma trains boast a dedicated ‘Let’s Eat Cafe Bar’ in addition to the at-seat trolley service in Standard Class. Customers in First Class will enjoy complimentary two-course meals freshly prepared in the onboard kitchens using locally sourced ingredients.

A new traffic light seat reservation system alongside clear digital displays above seats in First and Standard Class will make it easy for customers to find reserved or available seats on-board.

Customers will be able to book tickets for travel on the LNER website where all services operated by Azuma trains will be clearly highlighted.