• Over 500 people have now used the operator’s world-class train driver simulator in Hull City Centre
• The operator now has capacity for 40,000 customers to travel onboard every week
• The state-of-the-art Hitachi fleet that the operator uses has now reached one million miles since its introduction
Hull Trains is celebrating a year of impressive milestones during 2024. The renowned open access operator has now served a remarkable 1.5 million customers in the past year, a record achievement that coincides with its state-of-the-art train fleet reaching one million miles since its introduction.
It's 24 years since Hull Trains was originally founded to serve communities on the East Coast Main Line including Beverley, Hull, Retford, Grantham and London King’s Cross.
Hull Trains introduced the £60m new Hitachi fleet during 2019. The trains brought more seating capacity, enhanced interiors, enhanced journey times and environmental benefits as part of a major £60 million investment.
Now, for the first time, Hull Trains will be specially calling at Goole between 4th-12th January. Customers in the port town will be able to experience the famous Hull Trains service for direct links to and from London King’s Cross while upgrade works take place.
Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director of Hull Trains, said: “We’re thrilled to be hitting the milestone of serving 1.5 million customers in a year. Our fantastic teams are dedicated in making sure that every single customer has a safe and enjoyable journey with us. We now have capacity for 40,000 customers to travel with us every week, meaning that even more people than ever can enjoy a quick and efficient journey with unrivalled customer service.
“We’re immensely proud of the performance and reliability of our service and I'm particularly pleased that we’ll be offering our service to Goole for the first time in January. We also have ambitions to expand with a new service between Sheffield, Worksop and London.”
Louise Mendham, Service Delivery Director at Hull Trains, has been with the company for over twenty years: “I’m delighted that our dedicated Hull Trains team have reached so many milestones this past year. 2024 has also seen us more active than ever in the communities that we’re proud to serve.
“Amongst the highlights of this year, we’ve treated Brough schoolchildren to a special Hull Truck Theatre pantomime performance onboard, transformed one of our carriages into an exclusive comedy club with the Hull Comedy Festival, supported Pride in Doncaster and Hull Pride, as well as offering free travel to the Humber Street Sesh music festival. Our teams are already looking forward to more ways of supporting our customers and communities in 2025.”
Watch a special video looking back on the highlights of 2024 for Hull Trains here.