[4] The success of Hull Trains and its services from Hull to London led Renaissance Trains to start developing a proposal in 2003 to run trains from South Humberside and Lincolnshire to London To minimise revenue abstraction from franchised operators and avoid the congested East Coast Main Line, it proposed to operate via the joint line to Peterborough, across to Ely and then via the West Anglia Main Line to Stratford commencing in 2008/09.
In addition, Lincoln was being served by a daily service to London St Pancras via Nottingham by East Midlands Trains, and East Coast began running a daily direct train between Lincoln and London King's Cross.
[12] During the development of the business case, it was determined that operating the Nottingham services via the Settle & Carlisle and Leeds was a more viable alternative.
[13] The proposal did not appear to proceed any further, with no evidence of an application having been lodged with the Office of Rail Regulation until in 2014, the Renaissance Trains website was updated to say that the project had been revived.
[14] The application was denied by the Office of Rail Regulation in a preliminary report released in January 2009,[15] and in a final decision in February 2009.