EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS

'East Midlands Trains' is a train operating company, based in Derby, that will operate railway services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas. The Department for Transport announced on 22 June 2007 that Stagecoach Midland Rail Limited (a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group plc) had been awarded the contract to run the new East Midlands franchise from 11 November 2007, defeating rival bids from Arriva, First, and current incumbent National Express Group. ^[1]
Stagecoach have launched the website which announces the brand name under which they will operate the services as 'East Midlands Trains' with services sub-branded as 'East Midlands Mainline' and 'East Midlands Connect'

Contents

Routes

Former Midland Mainline routes

Former Central Trains routes

New routes

Fares

Proposed timetable

Enhancements

On Board

Rolling stock

References

See also

External links

Routes

The new franchise will be responsible for the existing Midland Mainline services, together with the eastern side of existing Central Trains / Central Citylink routes. The new company has no plans to further extend mainline services to destinations north of Sheffield.

Former Midland Mainline routes

The routes operating in and out of St Pancras will be branded as "East Midlands Mainline":

★ London St Pancras– Sheffield (fast)

★ London St Pancras – Nottingham (both fast and stopping)

★ London St Pancras – Derby (stopping)

Former Central Trains routes

The routes operated by Central Trains will be branded as "East Midlands Connect":

★ Matlock – Nottingham

★ Crewe – Derby

★ Nottingham – Skegness

★ Leicester – Lincoln (incorporating ‘Ivanhoe’ services)

★ Worksop – Nottingham (Robin Hood Line)

★ Grimsby – Newark-on-Trent (with some services extended to Cleethorpes)

★ Doncaster – Lincoln – Peterborough

★ Liverpool – Norwich (currently branded as Central Citylink)

New routes

★ Lincoln – London St Pancras (via Nottingham, one departure out at 07:10 and returning at 18:30. It is unknown whether this will run in the path of existing services between Lincoln and Nottingham, or whether it will be in addition) ^[2]

★ London – Kettering (stopping service, which will be extended to a new station at Corby depending on the funding).

★ Integration between Mainline and Connect services is expected to be much enhanced with many of the Connect services given better timings and becoming more user friendly.

Fares

It has been said that Stagecoach may put the fares up by as much as 58% by the end of the franchise.
^[3]

Proposed timetable

Services will be split into two distinct groups, 'East Midlands Mainline' and 'East Midlands Connect', the former relating to express services the latter to more regional connecting services. The Department for Transport in their franchise specification gave an indication as to the planned timetable, this mainly related to former Midland Mainline services operating to and from St. Pancras.

★ London St Pancras – Sheffield (as it currently does with faster timings).

★ London St Pancras – Kettering. This train would run as a dedicated commuter/short distance service and in the future extend to Corby station.

★ London St Pancras – Derby.

★ London St Pancras – Nottingham

★ London St Pancras – Nottingham (semi-fast service as it does now).

★ The current morning and evening services from and to Leeds are expected to continue as the HST fleet will continue to be maintained in Leeds.

★ The current morning and evening services from and to Burton upon Trent are expected to continue.

★ The current morning services from Barnsley are expected to continue.

★ It is unclear whether weekend services to York and Scarborough will continue beyond the December 2008 timetable change.

★ The proposed split of services at Leicester will no longer happen.
There has been no mention of the proposed timetable in Lincolnshire and the other rural lines although it is expected that service patterns will remain as now until the 2008 timetable change when there will be extensive consultation sessions.

Enhancements

Any enhanced services run as part of East Midlands will be at the discretion of the winning bidder.

★ Earlier arrival time of first train into St Pancras - before 07:00 to allow business travellers to reach the continent before 09:00.

★ Later departure from St Pancras as far as Leicester - after 00:01 to connect with last Eurostar.

★ Journey time saving on London – Sheffield services of 12 minutes and further savings after infrastructure works are completed.

★ Five off-peak departures from London St Pancras per hour incorperating future Corby railway station services.

★ London – Lincoln daily service via Nottingham.

★ Matlock to Derby services extended to Nottingham.

★ Additional early morning train from Derby to London.

★ Lengthening of trains on the Liverpool - Norwich route on weekdays.

★ Internal and external refit of all trains.

★ Opening of East Midlands Parkway railway station to serve East Midlands Airport.

★ Opening of a new Corby railway station.

★ Extensive upgrade of Etches Park Depot in Derby.

★ Upgrade of many station concourses.

★ Installing ticket barriers at four more stations.

On Board

★ Free tea and coffee for standard customers will stop.

★ A trolley service will operate for all standard class customers.

★ An enhanced range of hot food will be available for first class customers.

★ Regional services will retain their current catering provision.

Rolling stock

Stagecoach Midland Rail will inherit the Midland Mainline InterCity 125 (HST) and Class 222 ''Meridian'' diesel-electric high-speed trains, along with some of the Sprinter diesel units (classes 153/156/158) currently operated by Central Trains. Class 170 ''Turbostar'' units will not be used in the franchise.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes to operate	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 43 ''High Speed Train''		diesel-electric locomotive	125	200	34	Midland Main Line	1976 – 1982
Mk.3 Coach		Passenger Rolling stock	125	200		Midland Main Line	1975 - 1988
Class 153 ''Super Sprinter''		diesel multiple unit	75	120		Local Routes	1987 – 1988
Class 156 ''Super Sprinter''		diesel multiple unit	75	120		Local Routes	1987 – 1989
Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''		diesel multiple unit	90	145		Norwich - Liverpool	1989 – 1992
Class 222 ''Meridian''		diesel-electric multiple unit	125	200	23	Midland Main Line	2003

References

1. Department for Transport announces winner of East Midlands franchise
2. ‘Direct Train Link’ Pledge
3. 'Highway Robbery - Train fares set to go up

See also

★ Central Trains

★ Central Citylink

★ Midland Mainline

★ Stagecoach Group

External links

★ East Midlands Trains official website

★ Stagecoach Bid Website

★ Government News Network

★ Department for Transport Stock Market Statement for East Midlands Franchise



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