Isn’t it nice to know that 164 years after railways came to Bradford, a new train route to and from London opens on Sunday?

At long last you can get a daily train to the capital that doesn’t go to Leeds.

Just like the old days when trains to London could be caught at either Exchange Station, that was, or Forster Square.

As everybody knows by now, small railway company Grand Central is running three daily services from Bradford, travelling in a westerly direction to South Yorkshire and then the capital: no irritating in-between stops at Retford, Newark, Grantham, Peterborough or Stevenage.

Instead you go to Halifax, Brighouse, Wakefield Kirkgate (the worst station I’ve ever seen), Pontefract and then join the main East Coast line at Doncaster. From there it’s a 125mph whizz to the capital.

The inaugural journey yesterday took three hours 23 minutes there and, after a break of 30 minutes in London, three hours and 19 minutes back along the same route.

Grand Central trains have five coaches, with room for about 246 passengers. Physically, the coaches have good leg room. Although the rolling stock is ten years old, the coaches have power points and wifi.

Back in the T&A office, my head was still woozy from the round-trip. But that could have been due to the erratic air-conditioning which made one half of the carriage less temperate than the other half – an endemic problem with Class 180 diesels I was told.

However, apart from that minor blip, and the repeated announcements about our next “station stop” and reminders to look after “personal luggage”, Grand Central’s enterprise has far more pluses than minuses. Here are a few of them: l You can buy a ticket on the train without being penalised or told off. Grand Central welcome it.

l You don’t have to detrain at Leeds, lug your baggage across platforms and re-settle yourself on another train.

l Fares are competitive. An off-peak single to Kings Cross costs £49; a return £67. At other times tickets will cost £76 and £120 return.

Add to that, the benefits to business, tourism and culture that a direct service is bound to bring. Conservative Group leader Anne Hawksworth, on the train as far as Doncaster, said: “At a recent discussion with the City of Film Board, Steve Abbott said the new route is going to be fantastic in getting people to come to Bradford.”

Martin Wainwright, northern editor of The Guardian and a former T&A reporter, said something similar. Grand Central’s route made up for the closure of the Wortley Loop many years ago, which enabled trains to bypass Leeds.

He said: “Bradford has more for the visitor – the Brontes, the National Media Museum, Saltaire. I think the more cosmopolitan age in Bradford is one of its greatest assets; but it’s been difficult for people to get here.”

Echoing this, Tom Clift, Grand Central’s managing director, said: “Grand Central serves the parts other train operators can’t reach.”

This is a ‘use or lose’ service; Grand Central receives no public subsidy. With the cost of petrol rising and difficult times ahead, this might be a time when trains come into their own, said Bradford councillor Sher Khan, of West Yorkshire’s Integrated Transport Authority. He said: “People do use trains. At peak times they are standing. We have been saying for some time more coaches should be put on. The ITA is there to help Grand Central.”

The service is likely to be a gain for people in Halifax, Brighouse and Huddersfield – they now have a London train – as well as business people who need to get between Bradford and South Yorkshire.

Grand Central’s trains are black with an orange flash – even the toilets have black and orange towels. To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, as far as I am concerned, this jumping black flash is a gas, gas, gas.