Travelling between London and Leeds just got seriously cheap. LNER has kicked off a trial of early-bird and late-night fares costing £12 each way — and just £8 for anyone holding a railcard. The operator says these are the lowest fares seen on the route in nearly two decades.

The catch is timing. The £12 fare applies Monday to Friday on the 5.40am departure from London King's Cross, and on the 9.10pm return from Leeds. Both trips take a little over two hours — around two hours and 13 minutes — which is roughly half the time of the equivalent National Express coach service, that clocks in at anywhere from nearly four hours to well over four. That speed-versus-price combination is clearly aimed straight at coach passengers: LNER's commercial director David Flesher was upfront about wanting to lure budget travellers away from the bus companies with a faster option at a similar price.

LNER's advice for snagging one is simple: book well ahead, as seats at these fares will go quickly. Once you arrive at Leeds station, the operator is nudging people towards Beryl Bikes and e-scooters parked nearby as an easy, low-cost way to get around the city.

So what's the draw once you're there? Leeds has been quietly building a strong weekend-away case. There's the Leeds Art Gallery for culture fix, the Trinity Centre for shopping, and a healthy spread of live venues for evening entertainment. Add in the city's famous Victorian arcades, the Royal Armouries museum on the waterfront, and a food and drink scene that punches well above its weight, and a day trip can easily stretch into a night or two.

There's wider context too. In February, LNER unveiled plans for a new fleet of ten intercity trains on the East Coast Main Line — the Class 897s, which will run on the London King's Cross to Edinburgh route and replace trains approaching 40 years old. They'll be the first new fleet introduced under Great British Railways, the nationalised body set to replace the current mostly-private model, and will carry GBR branding inside and out.

For travellers, this is one of those rare bits of good news on UK rail pricing. If you can stomach a 5.40am start or a 9.10pm ride home, you can do London to Leeds for less than the cost of a takeaway dinner — and with a railcard, £8 is genuinely hard to beat for a two-hour intercity trip. Early birds and night owls, this one's for you.