East Midlands Trains

	File:StagecoachLogo.gif
Franchise(s)	East Midlands; 11th November 2007 – 31st March 2015
Main Region(s)	East Midlands
Other Region(s)	Yorkshire and the Humber
Fleet size	Unknown
Stations called at	Unknown
Parent company	Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Midland Rail is a train operating company that will operate railway services in England. 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 not yet announced the brand name under which they will operate the services, but the BBC have reported that the company will do business as ‘East Midlands Trains’.^[2]

Routes

The new franchise will be responsible for the existing Midland Mainline services, together with the eastern side of existing Central Trains routes.

Former Midland Mainline routes

London St Pancras– Sheffield (fast)
London St Pancras – Nottingham (both fast and stopping)
London St Pancras – Derby (stopping)

Former Central Trains routes

Matlock – Derby (to be extended to 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 out at 0710 and return at 1830. It is unknown whether this will run in the path of existing services between Lincoln and Nottingham, or whether it will be in addition) ^[3]
London – Kettering (stopping service, which could be extended to Corby depending on the funding of a new station)

Proposed timetable

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 – 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 – Sheffield (as it currently does with faster timings).
London St Pancras – Nottingham (semi-fast service as it does now).

The proposed split of services at Leicester will no longer happen.

Enhancements

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

London – Lincoln
Matlock – Nottingham
Journey time saving on London – Sheffield services of 12 minutes
Five off-peak departures from London St Pancras per hour.

Rolling stock

Stagecoach Midland Rail will inherit Midland Mainline’s InterCity 125 (HST) and Class 222 Meridian diesel-electric high-speed trains, along with some of the Sprinter diesel units (classes 150/153/156/158) currently operated by Central Trains. They will not be using any of Central’s Class 170 Turbostar units, as these are being allocated to London Midland and the new Cross Country franchise.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes to operate	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Routes to operate	Built
Class 43 High Speed Train		diesel-electric locomotive	125	200	34	Midland Main Line	1976 – 1982
Class 153 Super Sprinter	File:153383 at Coventry 1-Sept-2005.jpg	diesel multiple unit	75	120			1987 – 1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120			1987 – 1989
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	90	145			1989 – 1992
Class 222 Meridian	File:222 passing through Loughborough.jpg	diesel-electric multiple unit	125	200	23	Midland Main Line	2003
Mk.3 Coach		Passenger Rolling stock	125	200		Midland Main Line	1975 - 1988

References

^ "Department for Transport announces winner of East Midlands franchise". Department for Transport. June 22 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Stagecoach wins rail routes. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 June. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
^ "'Direct Train Link' Pledge". Lincolnshire Echo. June 23 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Preceded by Central Trains Central franchise	Operator of East Midlands franchise From 11th November 2007	Succeeded by N/A
Preceded by Midland Mainline Midland Main Line franchise

[1] "Department for Transport announces winner of East Midlands franchise". Department for Transport. June 22 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[2] Stagecoach wins rail routes. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 June. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

[3] "'Direct Train Link' Pledge". Lincolnshire Echo. June 23 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]