Anger as East Coast rail service slashed

The cutback on the Department for Transport-run East Coast Main Line will result in direct services between Glasgow Central and King's Cross station in London being cut from 13 to two per day from May 2011.

East Coast said the new timetable will create 19 new services and two million additional seats a year on the East Coast line, which serves Leeds, York and Doncaster.

It added that there will be new journeys from Glasgow to West Yorkshire, the Midlands and other Scottish towns.

However, the East Coast's Glasgow catering and guards' depot will close next year with 38 jobs at risk.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said there had been "a carve-up behind closed doors which would reduce to a skeleton service the important East Coast Main Line connection into Glasgow".

He added the decision would have "dire social and economic consequences and with an impact that will be felt right along the East Coast route".