Lumo, part of the transport company FirstGroup, will extend its existing London King's Cross-Edinburgh services to Glasgow after the plans were approved by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Lumo will be providing two northbound services and one southbound service between King's Cross and Glasgow on weekdays, as well as one in each direction on Sundays.

Direct services between Glasgow and London are currently dominated by Avanti West Coast but tickets for the journeys can cost over £100 during peak times.

However, Lumo is promising passengers "fantastic value tickets, that don't cost the earth or your wallet" - even though they haven't specified how much tickets will cost.

Richard Salkeld, head of communication and partnerships at Lumo, explained that the majority of travellers who want to get between London and Glasgow cannot afford the extortionate fare prices.

He told Metro: "Lumo is an open-access operator, which means we take full commercial risk for running the services. We don't get government or public subsidiary - we take on the risk and have to be confident that we can make it work, all while complementing the existing services that already run.

"Glasgow is somewhere we're looking forward to serving, and we're confident that we can make it as successful as our London to Edinburgh route."

The decision comes as part of the ORR's plans to offer more links between northern towns and cities and London on the East Coast Main Line.

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR's director of strategy, policy and reform, said: "Approving these additional open access services will increase connectivity on the East Coast Main Line.

"Importantly, we have ensured the approval of these services can be accommodated alongside the major service uplifts by other operators, which have been planned into the December 2025 timetable, so together passengers and freight customers can benefit from more direct connections and greater choice from December."

The exact launch date for the service is yet to be confirmed by Lumo.