East Midlands Trains
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| Image:EMT LOGO.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Image:222017 EMT livery.jpg | |
| Franchise(s): | East Midlands 11th November 2007 – 31st March 2015 |
| Main Region(s): | East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, East of England |
| Other Region(s): | London, North West, East Anglia |
| Fleet size: | 28 Class 43 HST power cars 17 Class 153 Super Sprinter sets 11 Class 156 Super Sprinter sets 27 Class 158 Express Sprinter sets 23 Class 222 Meridian sets |
| Stations called at: | 87 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | EM |
| Parent company: | Stagecoach Group |
| Web site: | www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk |
East Midlands Trains (EMT) is a train operating company operating in the United Kingdom, providing train services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas, chiefly in the counties of South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. Their franchise, which began 11 November 2007, was formed through the amalgamation of the former Midland Mainline, who operated inter-city services from London to Yorkshire and the Humber, and the eastern side of Central Trains.
Legally known as Stagecoach Midland Rail Limited, the parent company of EMT is Stagecoach Group which also owns 49% of the Virgin Trains franchise. Its sister company is South West Trains.
Contents |
[edit] History
East Midlands Trains began operation on the Midland Mainline franchise from 11 November 2007. EMT has taken over most of the routes from National Express Group's Midland Mainline and a few routes from Central Trains also owned by National Express. These services continued to operate until they split to become London Midland (from Central Trains), CrossCountry (from Central Trains and Virgin Cross Country) and East Midlands Trains.
In the bidding for the Midland Mainline franchise, the Department for Transport announced that, on 19th September 2006, four parties had pre-qualified for the East Midlands franchise.[1] On 31st October 2006 Invitations to Tender were issued to the following bidders:[2]
| Arriva Trains East Midlands Limited (Arriva) | |
| First East Midlands Limited (First Group) | |
| NXE Trains Limited (National Express Group) | |
| Stagecoach Midland Rail Limited (Stagecoach Group) |
On the 22 June 2007, the Department for Transport announced to the London Stock Exchange that the Stagecoach Group had won the franchise, because of its "dedication for the introduction of smartcard technology by 2010"[3]
[edit] Routes
East Midlands Trains have divided their services between two sub-brands which are Mainline InterCity services and connect urban and suburban services which have mainly come from the Central Trains franchise. EMT also have four broad routes for the areas that they operate in, except from the high speed and InterCity services which are all out of London.
[edit] East Midlands Mainline
[edit] Route 1
| Route | Calling At | |
|---|---|---|
| Express | London St Pancras to Sheffield | Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield |
| Express | London St Pancras – Nottingham | Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston |
| Express | London St Pancras – Derby | Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Long Eaton |
| Express | London St Pancras - Leeds | Luton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Langley Mill, Alfreton, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Westgate |
| Express | London St Pancras - York/Scarborough | Doncaster, Kettering, Bedford, Luton |
Route 1 is the InterCity route on the Midland Main Line.
[edit] East Midlands Connect
[edit] Route 2
| Route | Via | |
|---|---|---|
| Stopping | Liverpool to Norwich/Cambridge | Manchester Piccadilly, Sheffield & Peterborough |
Route 2 services cross England from east to west and are the former Central Citylink services.
[edit] Route 3
| Route | Via | |
|---|---|---|
| Local stopping | Nottingham to Derby/Worksop | Hucknall, Mansfield |
| Local stopping | Derby to Crewe | Uttoxeter, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent |
| Local stopping | Derby to Matlock | Belper, Cromford |
| Local stopping | Leicester to Lincoln Central | Loughborough, Nottingham, Newark Castle |
Route 3 services links towns in the East Midlands and provides direct services to Crewe and Stoke. The Derby to Matlock service links to the Peak District.
[edit] Route 4
| Route | Via | |
|---|---|---|
| Local stopping | Newark North Gate to Cleethorpes | Lincoln Central, Grimsby Town |
| Local stopping | Peterborough to Doncaster | Sleaford, Lincoln Central |
| Local stopping | Nottingham to Skegness | Bingham, Sleaford |
| Local stopping | Leicester to Lincoln Central | East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Newark |
Route 4 services link the East Midlands with eastern England.
[edit] New routes
| Fifth train an hour from London, operating to Kettering (stopping service, which will be extended to a new station at Corby depending on the funding).[citation needed] | |
| Lincoln Central – 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). [4] | |
| Summer Saturday service from London to Skegness.[verification needed] | |
| Better integration between Mainline and Connect services with increased punctuality and becoming more user friendly.[5] |
[edit] Ticketing
Fares are set to rise by an average of 3.4% plus inflation each year. Stagecoach says it needs to increase prices to keep its service going and to meet Government profit demands. 3.4% plus inflation over the franchise could mean a 58% fare increase over the length of the franchise, although the percentage increases relate to averages across a range of fares and deals. [6]
Stagecoach Group, EMT's parent company, will from 2008 sell seats on some off peak services under the Megatrain brand Mondays to Saturdays. This uses a similar low cost model to their Megabus service. Megatrain tickets are generally available on services that are expected to be quiet and empty. The tickets available will generally be between St Pancras and other principal stations and ticket holders are assigned to a specific carriage (normally the second from the front on South West Trains) in the train. The Megatrain service is also operated on fellow Stagecoach Group owned South West Trains and previously on Virgin Trains (49% owned by Stagecoach Group) in some regions but these has ceased since the transfer of services over to CrossCountry, owned by Arriva.
[edit] Services
Services are split into two distinct groups, East Midlands Mainline and East Midlands Connect, the former relating to express services (midland mainline) the latter to more regional connecting services (Central Trains). 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 London St Pancras.
| St Pancras – Sheffield (stopping only at the key locations of Chesterfield, Derby and Leicester with faster timings of 2hr 08min). | |
| St Pancras – Kettering. This train would run as a dedicated commuter/short distance service and in the future extend to Corby station. | |
| St Pancras – Derby (semi-fast service). | |
| St Pancras – Nottingham (fast) | |
| St Pancras – Lincoln (stopping service, extended from Nottingham at peak times). | |
| The current morning and evening services from and to Leeds are expected to continue as the HST fleet will continue to be maintained at Neville Hill depot in Leeds. | |
| Weekend services to York and Scarborough will continue beyond the December 2008 timetable change. | |
| Services to and from Barnsley and Burton upon Trent and will cease to operate from the December 2008 timetable. | |
| 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. Standard hourly timetables are expected to be introduced on many routes. |
[edit] Enhancements
Stagecoach have pledged to spend more than £91 million on service improvements.[7]
[edit] Train services
On its mainline services Stagecoach have pledged to add faster trains from Nottingham to London St Pancras [8]. The journey times saving on London to Sheffield services of 12 minutes by introducing Meridians on all off-peak Sheffield services. Earlier arrival time of first train into London St Pancras, before 05:00 to allow business travellers to reach the rest of the continent before 09:00 via the new Eurostar services. Later departures from St Pancras as far as Leicester after midnight to connect with last Eurostar service from mainland Europe. Five off-peak departures from St Pancras per hour incorporating future Corby services. Additional early morning train from Derby to St Pancras International in London. Reduction of services from Kettering and Wellingborough. London to Lincoln daily service via Nottingham. Summer Saturday service from London to Skegness on the east coast. Plus internal and external refit of all trains to include provision of WiFi Internet. Catering facilities to be downgraded. Other changes to the timetable are planned, but these need to have approval from Network Rail, Office of Rail Regulation and the Department for Transport. Journey times will be further improved after planned infrastructure works are completed [9].
On East Midlands Trains connect services Matlock to Derby services will be extended to Nottingham. Lengthening of trains on the west to east Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich route on weekdays.[7] Internal and external refit of all of the old trains to incorporate the new logo and livery.[citation needed]
[edit] Stations
More than £5 million has been pledged into station enhancements for most of the stations under the EMT's control.[7] The upgrade of many station concourses to meet better standards. The provision of WiFi Internet at key stations including Sheffield Midland. Installation of ticket barriers at four more stations including London St Pancras Domestic, Derby Midland, Nottingham and Sheffield Midland. As well as the extensive upgrade of Etches Park Depot train maintenance depot in Derby. Introduction of smart card technology, similar to that which is used on South West Trains, at all mainline stations and all those in the Derby/Nottingham commuter area. Introduction of Megatrain fares from 2 January 2008, which is the same formula used by Stagecoach on Virgin Trains and South West Trains, plus InterCity bus services as Megabus. Self service ticket machines at more stations operated by EMT.
[edit] On board
Midland Mainline's policy of free tea and coffee for standard-class passengers stopped after the timetable changed on 9 December, with East Midlands Trains claiming Midland Mainline would have stopped the policy anyway should their franchise have been renewed.[citation needed] Season ticket holders are no longer able to reserve seats on the former Midland Mainline routes. All buffet cars will be removed from High Speed Train sets, closed on new Meridians and will be replaced by at-seat trolley services. This is because they believe that more people will be 'tempted' to buy products if it is shown to them. A range of hot food will be available for first-class passengers once the above changes have taken place, but not for passengers in standard class. Liverpool to Norwich regional services will retain a similar catering provision of an at-seat trolley service.
[edit] Performance
Stagecoach plan to achieve a 90.3% (PPM) on Mainline services and 87% (PPM) on Connect services[10]. Although the old Central Trains franchise had difficulties with how it shared tracks with so many other operators, it had not performed too badly in its twilight months. Figures released rated Central Trains' performance at 87.8% for the PPM (Public Performance Measure) over the first quarter of the financial year 2007/8[11].
[edit] Rolling stock
East Midlands Trains inherited Midland Mainline’s InterCity 125 (HST) and Class 222 Meridian diesel-electric high-speed trains, along with some of the Sprinter diesel units (classes 153/156/158) formerly operated by Central Trains.
East Midlands Trains have revealed that the Class 222 Meridian trains will be used on the off-peak London to Sheffield services. This will allow the London to Sheffield run times to be reduced by the 12 minutes promised. The HST trains will then be used on all Nottingham fast services.[citation needed]
The former Central Trains class 158 units are expected to be upgraded to the same standard as South West Trains class 159 units.[verification needed]
[edit] Current fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes to operate | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 43 High Speed Train | Image:MML43035 at Nottingham 2005-10-14 01.jpg | diesel-electric locomotive | 125 | 200 | 28 | London - Leicester - Nottingham/Leeds | 1976 – 1982 |
| Class 153 Super Sprinter | Image:HPIM2380.JPG | diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 17 | East Midlands Connect | 1987 – 1988 |
| Class 156 Super Sprinter | Image:156403 at Birmingham New Street 01.jpg | diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 11 | East Midlands Connect | 1987 – 1989 |
| Class 158 Express Sprinter | Image:HPIM3496.jpg | diesel multiple unit | 90 | 145 | 27 | Norwich - Nottingham - Liverpool | 1989 – 1992 |
| Class 222 Meridian | Image:222017 EMT livery.jpg | diesel-electric multiple unit | 125 | 200 | 23 | London - Leicester - Nottingham/Derby/Sheffield | 2003 |
| Mk.3 Coach | Image:Nottingham station 2005-11-14 03.jpg | Passenger Rolling stock | 125 | 200 | 108 | London - Leicester - Nottingham/Leeds | 1975 - 1988 |
[edit] References
- ^ Government News Network (2006-09-19). Department for Transport announces pre-qualified bidders for 3 new franchises. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ Government News Network (2006-10-31). Invitations to Tender issued for three new rail franchises. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ Department for Transport announces winner of East Midlands franchise. Department for Transport (June 22 2007).
- ^ ‘Direct Train Link’ Pledge. Lincolnshire Echo (June 23 2007).
- ^ More services and extra capacity for the Midlands. Department for Transport (22 June 2007).
- ^ 'Highway Robbery - Train fares set to go up. Lincolnshire Echo (July 3rd 2007).
- ^ a b c Plans for the future of the East Midlands franchise. Stagecoach Group (23 June 2007).
- ^ "City concern over new rail links", BBC, October 23 2007.
- ^ "Buisness Plan 2007 on the Midland Main Line and East Midlands".
- ^ "About East Midlands Trains franchises better performance". East Midlands Trains
- ^ National Rail Trends Office of Rail Regulation
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- East Midlands Trains official website
- Stagecoach Bid Website
- Government News Network
- Department for Transport Stock Market Statement for East Midlands Franchise
| Preceded by Central Trains Central franchise | Operator of East Midlands franchise 2007 - present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by Midland Mainline Midland Main Line franchise |
Current train operating companies in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| ◄ Defunct • Future ► | |
| National: | Arriva Trains Wales · c2c · Chiltern Railways · CrossCountry · East Midlands Trains · First Capital Connect · First Great Western · First ScotRail · First TransPennine Express · Gatwick Express · Grand Central · Heathrow Connect · Heathrow Express · Hull Trains · London Midland · London Overground · Merseyrail · National Express East Coast · Northern Ireland Railways1 · Northern Rail · 'one'2 · Southeastern · Southern · South West Trains · Virgin Trains |
| International: | |
| Sub-brands: | |
| 1 Operates on the Irish railway network · 2 Becomes National Express East Anglia in February 2008 | |
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Wikipedia articles needing factual verification since November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since December 2007 | Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange | Train operating companies | Companies established in 2007
