Lockerbie station has been included in a new train link between London and a number of other Scottish destinations.
Rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road has accepted an application by Grand Union Trains to operate four daily return services between Stirling and London Euston ,starting from June 2025.
As well as Lockerbie, in Scotland the trains will call at Larbert, Greenfaulds, Whifflet and Motherwell, and at Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Nuneaton, and Milton Keynes Central in England.
According to the ORR, the plan put forward by Grand Union Trains will maximise choice for passengers and drastically increase direct journey options between London and both central and southern Scotland.
The regulator’s director of strategy, policy and reform, Stephanie Tobyn, said: “Our decision helps increase services for passengers and boost competition on Britain’s railway network.
“By providing more trains serving new destinations, open access operators offer passengers more choice in the origin and price of their journey, leading to better outcomes for rail users.”
Grand Union Trains will operate on an open access basis, which means it will not receive any taxpayer-funded subsidies and will take on all revenue risk.
It will be the first open access operator on the West Coast Main Line.
A regular user of Lockerbie Train Station, rail campaigner and Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell has expressed the hope that the new route and increased competition will be a force for good.
He said: “The catalogue of late trains and service cancellations in recent years affecting Lockerbie has been a disgrace.
“With the impact of Covid hopefully behind us and demand for train travel growing again, I believe improving rail services is an even higher national priority.
“Grand Union’s interest in stopping their new services at Lockerbie from summer next year is a vote of confidence in the regional strategic importance of the station.”
Mr Mundell added: “With further parking now in the pipeline, I will continue to press for long overdue improved train services and the reliability my constituents deserve, hopefully allowing Lockerbie Station to reach its full
potential.”
