Upon the opening of this new link, a new express train service began to use the line, including the new flyover, once a day in each direction. This train, unofficially known as the Ports to Ports Express, was a collaboration between the North Eastern Railway, the Great Central Railway and the GWR, which from 1 May 1906 ran between and "via" , , , , and ; in August 1906 it was extended to serve , via the Barry Railway; in July 1909 a through coach to and from Hull was introduced. It ran non-stop between Banbury and , but even so, took 82 minutes for this stretch. It was suspended during the First World War, reinstated on 12 July 1919 and extended to in 1920; on the outbreak of war in September 1939, the service was again suspended, but when reintroduced in October 1946, it used a different route between Banbury and Newport.