The service, which will be launched as part of East Midlands Trains new timetable, will run from Monday 12 December2011.  It will depart from Leicester at 07.11, and will call at Loughborough,East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby and Chesterfield, before arriving in Sheffield at 08.25.

David Horne, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, said:  “Following feedback from our passengers, we have re-time done of our trains to leave Leicester at the earlier time of 07.11.  Thiswill not only provide passengers with an opportunity to get to Sheffield in time for an early meeting or for a 9am start at work, it will also provide earlier connections to key cities such as Manchester, Leeds, York and Newcastle.

“We’re really pleased to be launching this new earlier service, and hope that it will encourage even more people to use the train for travelling to the north.”

Leicester deputy city mayor, Cllr Rory Palmer,added: “This is good news for passengers and we are pleased to see EastMidlands Trains making these additions to their Midland Main Line service.

“It is vital that we have a good service to other cities on the Midland Main Line and that we connect with the wider national rail network as well.”

Martin Traynor, Group Chief Executive for Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: ““Good connectivity to our northern cities is an important issue for many businesses in Leicester,who both trade and operate in that part of the UK. We welcome the addition of this new service with the confidence that the uptake from the business community will be very strong”

The first train from Leicester to Sheffield currently departs at 07.36.  By changing at Sheffield, the earlier departure time of 07.11 will allow an arrival into Manchester Piccadilly at 09.36, Leeds at 09.49, York at 09.44 and Newcastle at 10.44.

In addition, passengers from stations south of Leicester including Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough will be able to use this service and change at Leicester for earlier arrivals at Birmingham, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

City.Mobi

Also in Europe today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to London.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

London.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.