High-speed London link faces new delay
The Lincoln to London high-speed rail link is hanging in the balance after regulators failed to approve plans.
Train operator National Express has been told that other services on the East Coast main line would have to change their timetables to accommodate the new connection.
The rail company will need to hold discussions with the Department of Transport before getting the go-ahead.
The Office of Rail Regulation's decision to support the application rather than approve it means the final verdict will be given later than planned.
Lincoln MP Gillian Merron said: "Evidently the key rail industry bodies concerned have more work to do and I urge them to work together so the right decision for Lincoln can be reached."
The National Express bid hoped to establish a regular two-hourly service between Lincoln and London King's Cross which travelled via Newark, Grantham and Peterborough.
For more details on the train service, see Friday's Echo.
The British rail regulator has announced new train services for the country's premier line.

New "open access" (unregulated and non-franchised) company Grand Northern is to be given space (known in the industry as "paths") to run three train services a day between London King's Cross and Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield and Pontefract in West Yorkshire. Grand Northern's sister open access company Grand Central was given an extra path to increase services between King's Cross and Sunderland.

The existing franchisee of the line, National Express East Coast, was given the right to run services to London from Harrogate, Lincoln and Bradford, but not provided with paths unless the government changes the contracts of the other franchises whose territory these services would cross.
locomotive 43080 at King's Cross station 
Two other potential open access providers had their plans rejected by the regulator. First Group's Hull Trains had wanted to start a new service, Harrogate Trains, to run from North Yorkshire to London, whilst Platinum Trains had sought paths from London to Aberdeen in Scotland.

Britain's state-owned national railway company British Rail was controversially split-up and privatized in stages between 1993 and 1997. It was replaced by a series of privately owned regional train franchises for set periods, several unfranchised open access services and a track control and maintenance company.