YORK passengers will benefit from new train services when a leading company brings in its winter timetable.

Virgin Trains' new Cross Country timetable, which comes into effect on Monday, will see new business and commuter routes provided for the city's passengers.

In response to demand for a commuter service from Doncaster to York, Darlington and Durham, the 8.39am Darlington to Newcastle service will now stop at York at 8.10am.

A new early morning business service from the north-east to Birmingham will also be offered from Newcastle at 6.19am, stopping at York at 7.27am.

For evening travellers, the 7.28pm service from Newcastle to York will be extended to arrive at Doncaster at 8.53pm.

Meanwhile, Inter city - railways ltd, a joint venture between Virgin and Stagecoach, confirmed it had submitted its bid for the East Coast Main Line franchise.

The company said its bid would deliver significant benefits to passengers and taxpayers, including:

solutions to deal with the forecast passenger growth over the next ten years

improvements to the performance of trains

enhancements to passenger facilities at stations and on trains

a closer working relationship with Network Rail and other operators

The company, which has been formed specifically to develop an East Coast bid, said a key element of its plans involved making "substantial premium payments to the Government over the ten years of the franchise".

Simon Bailey, Inter city - railways bid director, said: "We have worked very hard on this bid and have consulted extensively with stakeholders in shaping proposals that deliver excellent value for money.

"We believe that our track record in delivering record investment and improvements for passengers within our existing franchises puts us in a strong position to enhance services further for East Coast customers.

"We look forward to working with the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) during their evaluation of the bids, and to a final decision regarding the franchise."

Inter city - railways is up against Danish Railways, FirstGroup and franchise holders GNER. The SRA expects to announce a preferred bidder early next year.

Updated: 10:19 Wednesday, December 08, 2004