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East Midlands Trains

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, 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 operating 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 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 Mainline and Connect services, together with increased punctuality and becoming more user friendly.

The proposed 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 will receive half its current northbound services from December 2008.

London services

Route 1

	Route	Calling At
Express	London St Pancras to Sheffield	Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield
extension	to Leeds (some peak services)	Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate
Express	London St Pancras – Derby	Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton
extension	to York/Scarborough(summer) (weekends)	Chesterfield, Sheffield, Doncaster
Express	London St Pancras – Nottingham	Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway
Semi-Fast	London St Pancras – Nottingham	Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Beeston
extension	to Lincoln (one service north/south)	Lowdham, Newark Castle, Collingham
extension	to Skegness (summer saturdays)	Boston
Semi-Express	London St Pancras – Corby	Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering
extension	to Melton Mowbray (one service north/south)	Oakham

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

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 proposes the above service pattern (that shown in the box). There will be 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 to 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	Via
Express/Stopping	Liverpool to Norwich/Cambridge	Manchester Piccadilly, Sheffield & 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.

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
Local stopping	Leicester to Lincoln Central	Loughborough, Nottingham, Newark Castle

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.

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.

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 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.

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. Release of December timetables reflect this, but incorporate slower, less frequent and more crowded services for the primary East Midlands stations of Kettering and Wellingborough. Increase in the number of departures from London to five an hour off-peak incorporating future Corby services and extending the hours of operation with earlier arrival and later departures, to allow better connections with Eurostar.

London to Lincoln daily service via Nottingham. Summer Saturday service from London to Skegness on the east coast.

East Midlands Trains Local Matlock to Derby services will run 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.

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.

Stations

More than £5 million has been pledged for station enhancements. These include the opening of East Midlands Parkway station to serve the large East Midlands Airport. The opening of a new station at Corby, when the station opens in December 2008, Stagecoach have said that the current northbound service to Derby will be withdrawn and the Nottingham train would carry on to call atKettering and Wellingborough the Derby train is to be replaced with the Corby, This has angered Kettering and Wellingborough rail users with a cut of services from 48 to 37 a day, saying that this is a risk to take Kettering and Wellingborough of the Intercity map and in to an outer suburban service and theres no need for the Corby station is failed so may times in the past. People have also said that the two towns need more and longer trains not less.

The provision of Wi-Fi Internet at key stations including Leicester, Derby and Sheffield. Installation of ticket barriers at four more stations including London St Pancras Domestic, Derby Midland, Nottingham and Sheffield. Derby's Etches Park train maintenance depot will receive an extensive upgrade.

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 at smaller stations.

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.

East Midlands Trains also Manage stations which they don't call at these are:

On board

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 reviewed its decision and launched an enhanced catering service for the start of the May 2008 timetable.

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.

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 88.8% (PPM) for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2007/8.

Incidents

Barrow upon Soar

On 1 February 2008, an East Midlands Connect 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.

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 will receive three more Class 153 single car trains.

The former Central Trains Class 158 units are to be fully refurbished to the same standards as the South West Trains class 158/Class 159 fleet.

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.

Current fleet

HST

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

HST names
43048	T.C.B. Miller MBE
43049	Neville Hill
43064	125 Group
43072	Derby Etches Park
43081	Midland Valenta

Meridian

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Routes operated	Built
Class 222/0 Meridian		diesel-electric multiple unit	125	200	23	London St Pancras to the North	2003 - 2004

Sprinter

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages per Unit	Routes operated	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Carriages per Unit	Routes operated	Built
Class 153 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	17	1	Local Services	1987 – 1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	11	2	Local Services	1987 – 1989
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	90	145	27	2	Local Services Liverpool-Norwich	1989 – 1992