Direct train services between Liverpool Lime Street and Glasgow have been launched by TransPennine Express.
The three-a-day service means passengers travelling between Merseyside and Scotland will no longer be required to change trains at Preston or Wigan.
The service takes around three and a half hours, with stopping points varying depending on time of day. Other stations along the route include St Helens Central, Wigan North Western, Preston and Lancaster, BusinessLive reports .
And it comes after the firm revealed its new fleet of 'Nova' trains in November - claiming them to be the "most advanced anywhere on the UK rail network".
TransPennine Express unveils new 'Nova' fleet of trains at Lime Street:
A spokeswoman for the firm confirmed to the ECHO today that services between the two cities began on December 15.
Speaking at a Westminster Social Policy Forum earlier this year , Carew Satchwell, acting head of strategic planning on Network Rail's London North Western Route, said: "TransPennine Express is introducing new services between Liverpool and Glasgow in December. That's just going to be three services a day, but that's at least a start.
"We spent £140m upgrading Lime Street last year . We have remodelled it, we've got new platforms, lengthened platforms and upgraded signalling, but the key issue is capacity - how do we get more people around?"
At the time, a spokeswoman for TransPennine Express said: "We are really looking forward to launching this new service which will connect these two great cities together."
It was initially hoped for the service to begin in the autumn, but TPE has since said the launch "will certainly be worth the wait".
Passengers travelling directly between Lime Street and Glasgow will board new state-of-the-art 'Nova' trains now in use on the firm's network, and the three new fleets will provide almost twice the number of seats than previous vehicles, following the company's £500m investment.
Built by Hitachi and CAF, they're operating between Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester and Edinburgh, and boast plug sockets and USB points at every seat.
Speaking at the launch event last month, Leo Goodwin, managing director of TransPennine Express, said: “Our vision was for Nova to represent the brightest future for rail in the north and we are so pleased to today make this vision a reality for customers, colleagues and businesses who make the TransPennine Express network such a crucial part of our infrastructure here in Liverpool and across the north.”
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