A train operating company is on track to start running direct rail services between Bradford and London at the start of this summer.

The ‘West Riding’ service, which will provide three trains a day in each direction between Bradford Interchange and London Kings Cross, is expected to prove popular with Bradford’s business community.

Grand Central, which already runs trains between Sunderland and the capital, has confirmed that it is on schedule to launch the Bradford service on Sunday, May 23.

The company will use 125mph trains on the route, with the journey time expected to be about three hours and 20 minutes.

The services will stop at Halifax, Brighouse, Wakefield, Pontefract and Doncaster.

Today, a spokesman for Grand Central said: “I can confirm that we are all working towards May 23 as the start date.” Test running and crew training for the new service is set to start in the coming weeks.

Last year, Grand Central was finally granted permission to run the services along the East Coast Main Line after a long battle to secure track access rights.

Although the timetable for the service is yet to be confirmed, a report drawn up by officers from transport authority Metro said weekday trains would depart Bradford at 6.51am, 10.22am and 3.46pm, and from London at 10.48am, 2.48pm and 7.48pm.