The Department for Transport does not hold data on passenger journeys by direct trains only. Since April 2001, 2.6 million direct and indirect journeys have been made between London and Glasgow in both directions.
The specification of train services between London and Glasgow is set by the Secretary of State and is subject to agreement of track access rights by the Office of Rail Regulation.
There are no proposals to discontinue direct rail services between Glasgow and London Euston via the West Coast Main Line which carries most of the Glasgow to London passengers.
After the completion of the £8.9 billion West Coast Main Line upgrade, only a relatively small number of passengers travel by the direct service from Glasgow to London Kings Cross, which has a substantially longer journey time than the Glasgow to Euston service. Therefore, as part of a major revision of the East Coast Main Line timetable, consideration is being given to replacement of direct Glasgow to London Kings Cross services with through services between Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield and the Midlands.
The economic benefits of direct services between London Euston and Glasgow were evaluated in detail by the former Strategic Rail Authority as part of the business case for upgrading the West Coast Main Line. It has not been necessary for the Department for Transport to repeat that work.
The future of direct services between London King's Cross and Glasgow has been reviewed as part of a package of changes to services on the East Coast Main Line. Specifically, the Department for Transport has considered whether through-journeys between Glasgow and north-east England should be provided by Cross Country services rather than East Coast services. In accordance with normal practice, assessment of alternative service patterns is focussing on the changes in passenger journey opportunities and the impact on operating costs. The economic benefits of the full package of changes to the East Coast Main Line timetable will be evaluated in due course to confirm the overall business case for the changes.
There are no plans to reduce services running between London Euston and Glasgow. Any proposals to modify services between London Kings Cross and Glasgow will be subject to public consultation. However, the number of people who travel from Glasgow to Kings Cross is very small, due to the significant longer journey time than the recently improved Glasgow to Euston service.
It is not the Department for Transport’s policy to carry out environmental assessments of changes to individual service patterns. Instead such assessments are used to inform major investment decisions such as the Department’s recent announcements of new electrification schemes.