Everything about East Midlands Trains totally explained
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,
Northamptonshire 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 East Midlands Trains Limited, the parent company of East Midlands Trains is
Stagecoach Group which also owns
South West Trains and 49% of the
Virgin Trains franchise.
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.
East Midlands Trains began operation on the East Midlands Franchise from
11 November 2007. EMT has taken over all of the routes formerly operated by
National Express Group's
Midland Mainline and a few routes from
Central Trains.
Routes
East Midlands Trains initially divided their services between two sub-brands:
Mainline InterCity services, and
Connect urban and suburban services which have mainly come from the Central Trains franchise. However from April 2008, East Midlands Trains decided to drop the "Mainline" and "Connect" branding in favour of "London" and "Local" services. 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.
EMT have promised better integration between Mainline and Connect services with increased punctuality and becoming more user friendly.
Proposed timetables indicate a reduction in off-peak departures at many smaller stations on Mainline and Connect routes which has caused much concern in affected communities. Kettering for example will receive half its current northbound services from 2008.
London Services
Route 1
| |
Route |
Calling At |
| Express |
London St Pancras to Sheffield |
Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield |
| Express |
London St Pancras – Nottingham |
Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway |
| Express |
London St Pancras – Lincoln (proposed limited service) |
Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, Nottingham, Newark Castle |
| Express |
London St Pancras – Skegness (proposed summer Saturday service) |
Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston, Nottingham, Boston |
| Express |
London St Pancras – Corby (proposed) |
Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering |
| Express |
London St Pancras – Derby |
Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway Long Eaton |
| Express |
London St Pancras - Leeds (limited service) |
Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Langley Mill, Alfreton, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Wakefield Westgate |
| Express |
London St Pancras - York/Scarborough (limited winter/summer weekend service) |
Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Doncaster
|
Route 1 is the InterCity route on the
Midland Main Line.
Service pattern currently is 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
from December 2008 propose the above service pattern (that shown in the box). 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). Sheffield peak hour trains will continue to extend from and too Leeds with weekend services also extending to York and Scarborough. In addition a Nottingham service will be extended to start from Lincoln and a summer Saturday service will be introduced to
Skegness.
EMT has expressed a desire to run two trains an hour from Sheffield to London on its flagship route. The possibility of running trains north of Corby is under review for implementation in 2010.
Named Trains
- The Robin Hood on the 06:30 Sheffield to St. Pancras via Nottingham, and returning as the 17:00 St. Pancras to Nottingham.
- The Master Cutler on the 06:14 Leeds to St Pancras which runs non stop from Chesterfield, and 16:55 St. Pancras to Leeds return.
- The Midlands Express on the 07:05 Sheffield to St. Pancras.
Local Services
Route 2
Route 2 services cross England from east to west and are the former
Central Citylink services. EMT trains see this as a mainline route (and want to grow it accordingly), and as such will paint relevant trains in the mainline livery.
This route is subject to much speculation, as the trains only operate at up to 90 mph but use a busy part of the
ECML through Grantham. It has been suggested that this train will in future operate via Leicester.
Route 3
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.
Route 4
Route 4 services link the East Midlands with eastern England.
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.
Stagecoach Group, EMT's parent company, introduced
Megatrain fares on its mainline routes between London and Leicester/Loughborough/Derby/Nottingham/Chesterfield/Sheffield on
2 January 2008.
Services
Services are split into two distinct groups,
London and
Local, the former relating to express services (formerly Midland Mainline) the latter to more regional connecting services (formerly 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 (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 and will be complemented by Summer Saturday services to Skegness. |
| |
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's 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. |
Enhancements
Stagecoach have pledged to spend more than £91 million on service improvements.
Train services
Faster trains from
Nottingham, and from
Sheffield to
London St Pancras by introducing
Meridians on all off-peak Sheffield services will save twelve minutes.
Earlier arrival and later departure time of trains into
London St Pancras, to allow better connections with
Eurostar services from December 2008. Five off-peak departures from St Pancras per hour incorporating future
Corby services. Additional early morning train from
Derby to London. London to
Lincoln daily service via Nottingham. Summer Saturday service from London to
Skegness on the east coast. Internal and external refit of all trains to include provision of
Wi-Fi Internet. 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.
East Midlands Trains Local
Matlock to Derby services will run an hourly and will be extended to Nottingham. A new Sunday Service will run on the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse. Trains will be lengthened on the west to east
Liverpool Lime Street to
Norwich route on weekdays. There will be an internal and external refit of all of the old trains to incorporate the new logo and livery.
In several interviews, East Midlands Trains managing director Tim Shoveller has indicated that services will be speeded up, not denying that some stations will lose their current high frequency of trains off peak.
Stations
More than £5 million has been pledged into station enhancements for most of the stations under the EMT's control.
The upgrade of many station concourses to meet better standards. The provision of
Wi-Fi Internet at key stations including Sheffield. Installation of ticket barriers at four more stations including
London St Pancras Domestic,
Derby Midland,
Nottingham and
Sheffield. As well as the extensive upgrade of Derby's Etches Park train maintenance depot.
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. Self service ticket machines at more stations operated by EMT.
Passengers who use Loughborough and Long Eaton Stations have begun lobbying East Midlands Trains regarding the short platforms at these stations, which are shorter than the trains using them. This can be particularly problematic for passengers with bicycles or heavy luggage.
On board
Midland Mainline's policy of free tea and coffee for standard-class passengers stopped after the timetable changed on 9 December 2007. Season ticket holders are no longer able to reserve seats on the former Midland Mainline routes. Originally it was proposed to remove the buffet cars from
High Speed Train sets as they were very heavy and used only to cook breakfast on some trains, they were to be replaced by an at-seat trolley service. The company has reviewed its decision and launched an enhanced cattering offer for start of the May 2008 timetable.
Liverpool to Norwich regional services will retain a similar catering provision of an at-seat trolley service.
Performance
Stagecoach plan to achieve a 90.3% (PPM) on Mainline services and 87% (PPM) on Connect services. 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. Initial figures released by the ORR rated performance overall at 86.2% (PPM) for the second half of the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8.
Incidents
Barrow On Soar
On Friday 1st February 2008, an East Midlands Connect
Class 158 158856 working a service from
Nottingham to
Norwich (via
Loughborough and
Oakham) was involved in an incident at
Barrow-on-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.
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.
The former Central Trains class 158 units are to be fully refurbished
East Midlands Trains announced in
March 2008 that it was to reform its Class 222 sets to prevent overcrowding. This will seen 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. This has been completed on all but 3 4-car Meridians.
Current fleet
East Midlands Trains has the following named units / locos.
| HST names |
| 43048 |
T.C.B. Miller MBE |
| 43049 |
Neville Hill |
| 43072 |
Derby Etches Park |
Further Information
Get more info on 'East Midlands Trains'.
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