East Midlands Trains

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franchise(s):	East Midlands 11 November 2007 – 1 April 2015
Main Region(s):	East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, East of England
Other Region(s):	London, North West, East Anglia
Fleet size:	25 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
Stations operated:	88
Passenger KM 2007/8:	1597.9 million
Route KM operated:	1567.5
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. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas, chiefly in the counties of South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. The franchise, which began 11 November 2007, was formed through the amalgamation of the former Midland Mainline, which operated inter-city services from London to Yorkshire, and the eastern side of Central Trains operating companies.

Legally known as East Midlands Trains Limited,^[1] the parent company of East Midlands Trains is Stagecoach Group which also owns South West Trains and 49% of the Virgin Trains franchise.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Routes 2.1 London services 2.1.1 Route 1 2.1.1.1 Future plans 2.1.1.2 Named trains 2.2 Local services 2.2.1 Route 2 2.2.2 Route 3 2.2.3 Route 4 3 Ticketing 3.1 Megatrain 3.1.1 MegabusPlus 4 Franchise commitments 4.1 Train services 4.2 Stations 4.3 On board 5 Performance 6 Incidents 6.1 Barrow upon Soar 7 Rolling stock 7.1 Current fleet 7.1.1 HST 7.1.2 Meridian 7.1.3 Sprinter 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

Prior to the launch of the franchise, the Department for Transport undertook the task of splitting up the former routes of Central Trains: East Midlands Trains resulted from the letting of the East Midlands franchise.^[3]

East Midlands Trains began operating on the East Midlands Franchise from 11 November 2007.^[4] EMT has taken over all of the routes formerly operated by National Express Group's Midland Mainline and a few routes from Central Trains.

East Midlands Trains has been affected by the World recession and in March 2009 announced its intention to reduce its staff numbers, this followed a similar announcement at South West Trains earlier in the year.^[5]

[edit] Routes

East Midlands Trains initially divided its services between two sub-brands: Mainline InterCity services, and Connect urban and suburban services, which mainly came from the Central Trains franchise. However, from April 2008, East Midlands Trains dropped the "Mainline" and "Connect" branding in favour of "London" and "Local" services. EMT also has four broad routes for the areas in which they operate, except for the high speed and InterCity services which are all out of London.

EMT has promised better integration between London and Local services, together with increased punctuality and becoming more user friendly.^[6]

The new timetables indicate a reduction in off-peak departures at many smaller stations on London and Local routes, which has caused much concern in affected communities. Kettering for example has half its previous northbound services.^[7]

In several interviews, East Midlands Trains’ managing director Tim Shoveller indicated that services will be speeded up, not denying that some stations will lose their current high frequency of trains off peak. Various rail user groups have expressed dissatisfaction of various proposals, particularly those affecting smaller stations.^[8] Indeed East Midlands Trains have been mentioned in Parliamentary sessions several time due to customer dissatisfaction.

On 25 November 2008, Peter Bone (MP for Wellingborough) asked if the Secretary of State for Transport supports the "In the Can" campaign, where sardines are sent to the Chief Executive to show dissatisfaction at perceived overcrowding.^[9] Helen Southworth (MP for Warrington South) also raised the overcrowding issue on the same day.^[10]

Despite public statements claiming improved services,^[11] peak time services from St Pancras to Wellingborough in the even period of 1630 to 1800, have also been reduced from seven to three, and an addition stop have been added to the 1700, as well as reducing the train from eight carriages to five.

Route clearance trials have been carried out with Class 222 on routes from Nottingham to Liverpool, Lincoln and Norwich although East Midlands Trains have no current plans to use these units on Liverpool or Norwich services.

[edit] London services

[edit] Route 1

	Route	Calling At	Main Stock	Journey Time
XX:00	London St Pancras – Corby	Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering	222	1hr 40mins
extension	to Melton Mowbray (one service north/south)	Oakham	222	1hr 55mins
XX:15	London St Pancras – Nottingham	Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway	HST	1hr 44mins
XX:25	London St Pancras – Derby	Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton	222	1hr 50mins
extension	to York (weekends)/Scarborough (summer weekends)	Chesterfield, Sheffield, Doncaster	222	3hr 39mins
XX:30	London St Pancras – Nottingham	Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Beeston	222	1hr 56mins
extension	to Lincoln (one service north/south)	Lowdham, Newark Castle, Collingham	222	2hr 54mins
XX:55	London St Pancras to Sheffield	Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield	222	2hr 9mins
extension	to Leeds (some peak services)	Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate	HST	3hr 10mins

Route 1 is the InterCity route on the Midland Main Line. The above table shows the service pattern from the December 2008 timetable change.^[12]

The service pattern at the start of the franchise was of four off peak departures from London: two fast (one to Sheffield and one to Nottingham), and two stopping (one to Derby and one to Nottingham). Sheffield peak hour trains extend from and to Leeds with weekend services also extending to York and Scarborough. EMT made no significant changes until the introduction of 'their' timetable in December 2008.

From December 2008 EMT used the above service pattern (that shown in the box). There are five off peak departures from London: three fast (one to Sheffield, one to Nottingham and one to Derby) and two stopping (one to Nottingham and one to Corby/Kettering). A smaller number of Sheffield peak hour trains continue to extend from and to Leeds, with weekend services also extending to York and Scarborough. In addition a Nottingham service is extended to start from Lincoln Monday to Saturday.^[13] A planned summer Saturday service to Skegness which would have started in May 2009 will no longer go ahead due to infrastructure problems.^[14]

[edit] Future plans

• East Midlands Trains is confident it can run two trains an hour from Sheffield to London in the next two years by more efficient use of the Class 222 fleet^[15].
• The possibility of running trains north of Corby is under review for implementation in 2010.^[16]

[edit] Named trains

• The Sheffield Continental on the 06:47 Sheffield - St Pancras. Introduced by East Midlands Trains for the start of its December 2008 timetable.^[17]
• The Master Cutler on the 07:27 Sheffield to St Pancras, and 16:55 St Pancras to Sheffield return
• The South Yorkshireman on the 07:44 Sheffield - St Pancras. Introduced by East Midlands Trains for the start of its December 2008 timetable.^[17]
• The Robin Hood on the 07:50 Nottingham to St Pancras, and returning as the 16:15 St Pancras to Nottingham. A named service inherited from Midland Mainline.

[edit] Local services

[edit] Route 2

	Route	Via
Express/Stopping	Liverpool to Norwich	Manchester Piccadilly, Sheffield, Nottingham & Peterborough

Route 2 services cross England from east to west and are former Central Citylink services. EMT sees this as a mainline route (and want to grow it accordingly), and as such will paint relevant trains in the mainline livery.

Nottinghamshire County Council is working with Network Rail to try and introduce an additional train towards Manchester which would avoid Sheffield creating a faster journey.^[18]

[edit] Route 3

	Route	Via
Local stopping	Nottingham to Mansfield Woodhouse/Worksop	Hucknall, Mansfield
Local stopping	Derby to Crewe	Uttoxeter, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
Local stopping	Derby to Matlock	Belper, Cromford

Route 3 services link towns in the East Midlands and provide direct services to Crewe and Stoke. The Derby to Matlock service links to the Peak District.

Nottinghamshire County Council has paid for a study into increasing the line speed between Newark and Lincoln from 60mph to 90mph; they have also requested a doubling of service on the line.^[18]

[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, Boston
Local stopping	Leicester to Lincoln Central	East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Newark

Route 4 services link the East Midlands with eastern England.

[edit] Ticketing

Fares are set to rise by an average of 3.4% plus inflation each year. Stagecoach says that 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.^[19]

[edit] Megatrain

Stagecoach Group, EMT's parent company, introduced Megatrain fares on its London routes on 2 January 2008^[20] opperating to/from London St Pancras International to

• Leicester
• Loughborough
• Derby
• Nottingham
• Chesterfield
• Sheffield

Megatrain fares will be introduced on Local routes between Norwich and Nottingham, and Leicester and Sheffield in 2009.^[21]

[edit] MegabusPlus

East Midlands Parkway will be used as an interchange station for combined multi-modal journeys MegabusPlus will transport transport passengers from the cities in the north of England to East Midlands Parkway, where passengers will transfer to rail for the service to London.^[22]

Routes operated under the MegabusPlus brand will be to/from London to

• Hull via Doncaster and Scunthorpe
• York via Castleford and Harrogate
• Huddersfield via Bradford and Halifax

[edit] Franchise commitments

Stagecoach are currently spending more than £91 million on service improvements.^[23]

[edit] Train services

Faster trains from Nottingham^[24] and from Sheffield to London St Pancras.^[23]

Increasing the number of departures from London to five an hour off-peak incorporating Corby services and extending the hours of operation with earlier arrival and later departures, to allow better connections with Eurostar.^[23]

London to Lincoln daily service via Nottingham.

East Midlands Trains Local Matlock to Derby services run hourly and extend to Nottingham.^[23] A new Sunday Service runs on the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse.^[25] Trains will be lengthened on the west to east Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich route on weekdays.^[23] There will be an internal and external refit of all of the old trains to incorporate the new logo and livery.^[26]

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.^[27]

The Department for Transport in their franchise specification gave an indication of their ambitions for the 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 (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 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 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.
	The 2008 timetable changes reduce frequency, capacity and speed of services between London, Kettering and Wellingborough.

[edit] Stations

More than £5 million has been pledged for station enhancements.^[28] These include the opening of East Midlands Parkway station to serve the large East Midlands Airport. The opening of a new station at Corby in December 2008.

The provision of Wi-Fi Internet at key stations including Leicester,^[29] Derby,^[30] and Sheffield. Installation of ticket barriers at four more stations including London St Pancras Domestic, Derby Midland, Nottingham and Sheffield.^[31]

Derby's Etches Park train maintenance depot is in the process of an extensive upgrade.^[32]

Introduction of smart card technology, similar to that which is used on South West Trains, at all London route stations and all those in the Derby/Nottingham commuter area, and the installation of more self service ticket machines across the network.^[33]

East Midlands Trains also manage stations at which they don't operate services:

• Hinckley
• Narborough
• South Wigston
• Willington
• Burton-on-Trent

[edit] On board

Originally it was proposed to remove the buffet cars from High Speed Train sets as they are very heavy and used only to cook breakfast on some trains, they were to be replaced by an at-seat trolley service.^[34] The company reviewed its decision and launched an enhanced catering service for the start of the May 2008 timetable.^[35]

There is to be an internal and external refit of all trains and London line services will include Wi-Fi internet access.

Liverpool to Norwich local line services will retain a similar catering provision of an at-seat trolley service.

[edit] Performance

Stagecoach plan to achieve a 90.3% (PPM) on London services and 87% (PPM) on Local services.^[36] Previously the Central Trains franchise had had difficulties with timekeeping due to the high number of potential clashes with late running other services en route and use of insufficient stock, causing long dwell times at stations due to slow unloading and loading. 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.^[37] Latest figures released by the ORR rated performance over the last year (up to 31 December 2008) at 88.4% (MAA) and 85.6% (PPM) for the third quarter of the financial year 2008/9.^[38]

[edit] Incidents

[edit] Barrow upon Soar

On 1 February 2008, an East Midlands Trains Class 158 158856 working a service from Nottingham to Norwich was involved in an incident at Barrow upon Soar. The train hit a footbridge that was in its path, after a road vehicle had struck and damaged the bridge causing it to be foul of the line. Six passengers were on board the service and the driver had to be cut free from the driving cab.^[39]

[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.

The former Central Trains Class 158 units are to be fully refurbished to the same standards as the South West Trains Class 158/159 fleet.^{[40] [41]}

East Midlands Trains announced in March 2008 that it was to reform its Class 222 sets to prevent overcrowding. This will see the remaining 4-car Class 222 units receive an extra vehicle to become 5-car sets. This was accomplished by reducing one of the 8-car sets to a 5-car, with the remaining 8-car sets reduced to 7-cars. Extra capacity on its long distance routes is provided by running pairs of 5-car sets coupled together.^[42]

[edit] Current fleet

[edit] HST

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 43 High Speed Train		diesel locomotive	125	200	25	Route 1	1976 – 1982
Mk.3 Coach		Passenger Rolling stock	125	200	108	Route 1	1975 - 1988

HST names
43048	T.C.B. Miller MBE
43049	Neville Hill
43072	Derby Etches Park

• 43064 and 43081 have lost their temporary names given for the (Paxman) Valenta Farewell.

• 43089 will be East Midlands Trains' 26th powercar when it transfers from Network Rail to East Midlands Trains for use during 2009. 43089 was a Hitachi Hybrid powercar and was sent to Brush Traction, Loughborough, it will have its Hitachi power unit removed and be returned to standard specification.^[43]

[edit] Meridian

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 222/0 Meridian		diesel-electric multiple unit	125	200	23	Route 1	2003 - 2004
Class 222/1 Pioneer		diesel-electric multiple unit	125	200	2	Route 1	2004

Meridian names
222003	Tornado

Two of the Class 222/1 units from First Hull Trains, have now been transferred to allow enough stock to be free for the new service to Corby.^[44]

First Hull Trains made a decision to use only Class 180 'Adelante' units, with their Class 222 'Pioneer' units transferring to East Midlands Trains.^[45]

The first of the Class 222 Pioneer units from Hull Trains arrived in January 2009 with the other two due to arrive by the summer.^[46]

East Midlands Trains began the service from Corby 23 February 2009.^[47] Initially, this will be made up of one train per day in each direction, and will be met by the existing Meridian fleet.^[48]. The full Corby service will start on 27th April 2009 as the services are in the booking system from this date.

[edit] Sprinter

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages per Unit	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 153 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	17	1	Route 2 Route 3 Route 4	1987 – 1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	11	2	Route 2 Route 3 Route 4	1987 – 1989
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	90	145	27	2	Almost all EMT local services.	1989 – 1992

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: East Midlands Trains

• East Midlands Trains official 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

v • d • e 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 Hull Trains · First ScotRail · First TransPennine Express · Grand Central · Heathrow Connect · Heathrow Express · London Midland · London Overground · Merseyrail · National Express East Anglia · National Express East Coast · Northern Ireland Railways1 · Northern Rail · Southeastern · Southern · South West Trains · Virgin Trains · Wrexham & Shropshire International: Enterprise1 · Eurostar Sub-brands: Caledonian Sleeper · Gatwick Express · Island Line Trains · Night Riviera · Stansted Express 1 Operates on the Irish railway network.

v • d • e Stagecoach Group Key personnel Brian Souter (CEO) · Robert Spiers (chairman) · Ann Gloag (Stagecoach UK Bus founder) United Kingdom bus companies Stagecoach West Scotland (Western, A1 Service, Glasgow) · Stagecoach East Scotland (Fife, Bluebird, Inverness, Perth, Strathtay, JW Coaches) · Stagecoach North East (Newcastle, South Shields, Sunderland, Hartlepool, Teesside) · Stagecoach North West (Cumbria, Lancaster, Lancashire, Network Chorley) · Stagecoach Manchester (Manchester, Magicbus) · Stagecoach Merseyside (Merseyside) · Stagecoach Yorkshire (Yorkshire, Chesterfield, Sheffield) · Stagecoach East Midlands (Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Grimsby-Cleethorpes, Hull, Lincolnshire) · Stagecoach Warwickshire (Warwickshire) · Stagecoach Oxfordshire (Oxfordshire, Brookes Bus, Oxford Tube) · Stagecoach Cambridgeshire (Cambridge, Peterborough. The Fens) · Stagecoach East (Northants, Bedford) · Stagecoach West (Cheltenham, Swindon, Gloucester, Cotswolds, Wye and Dean) · Stagecoach Wales (Stagecoach in South Wales) · Stagecoach South East (East Kent, East Sussex, Eastbourne, Hastings, Portsmouth, Stagecoach in the South Downs) · Stagecoach South (Hants & Surrey, Hampshire, Coastline) · Stagecoach South West (Devon) · Stagecoach Express · Scottish Citylink (35% with ComfortDelGro) · Megabus (United Kingdom) · Stagecoach Goldline United Kingdom railway companies East Midlands Trains · South West Trains (Island Line Trains) · Virgin Trains (49% with Virgin Group) · Megatrain United Kingdom tram operations Stagecoach Sheffield Supertram · Manchester Metrolink North American bus companies United States: Coach USA (Northeast: Community Coach, Gray Line New York, Olympia Trails, Red & Tan Tours, Rockland Coaches, Short Line Bus, Suburban Trails) · (North Central: Butler Motor Transit, Central Cab Company, Coach USA Chicago, Lenzner Coach Lines, Tri-State/United Limo, Wisconsin Coach Lines, Van Galder) · Megabus (United States), Eastern Shuttle Canada: Coach Canada: Erie Coach Lines, Trentway-Wagar, Gray Line Montreal Annual revenue: £2,176 million GBP (▲ 8.9% FY 2007) · Employees: 27,000 · Stock symbol: LSE: SGC · Website: www.stagecoachgroup.com