A YORK-BASED train firm continues to see strong demand for its services as customers return to rail - with bumper bank holiday bookings and 200,000 bargain tickets sold.

Latest figures show the number of customers travelling for leisure with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is now exceeding levels seen before Covid.

David Horne, managing director at LNER said: "There has been a great deal of pent up demand as people want to make trips to see friends, or loved ones or to enjoy a break or day trip.

"Since April this year, more than five million journeys have been enjoyed with LNER and we are delighted to be welcoming more and more customers back."

Bank holiday bookings with LNER saw 370,000 reservations made over the course of the weekend. Meanwhile, last month's Seat Sale, which offered journeys from as little as £5, saw 200,000 bargain tickets snapped up by customers looking for great value fares across the East Coast route.

Business travel is also continuing to grow, nearing 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

To enable passengers to book in confidence knowing they’ll have the comfort of a seat for the duration of their journey, LNER introduced 'Seat Sure'. Customers are recommended to reserve their seats, which can be done up to five minutes before travel either online or at a travel centre.

Customers can also be reassured that record levels of enhanced cleaning continues to be carried out around the clock both onboard LNER trains and managed stations as part of LNER’s ‘Covid Aware’ pledge.