East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway (EMR) is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
Overview | |||
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Franchise(s) | East Midlands 18 Aug 2019 – 21 Aug 2027 | ||
Main region(s) | East Midlands Greater London South Yorkshire North West England | ||
Other region(s) | East of England | ||
Parent company | Abellio | ||
Reporting mark | EM | ||
Predecessor | East Midlands Trains | ||
Other | |||
Website | eastmidlandsrailway | ||
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History
In March 2017, the Department for Transport announced Arriva, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia, and incumbent Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next East Midlands franchise.[1] Abellio was added in February 2018.[2]
FirstGroup and Trenitalia pulled out of the bidding process in April 2018 to focus on the West Coast Partnership franchise.[3] In April 2019 the franchise was awarded to Abellio, with East Midlands Railway (EMR) to take over the franchise from East Midlands Trains (EMT) on 18 August 2019 for a period of eight years.[4]
In June 2019, Abellio revealed branding and colour scheme using distinct purple and white colours to reflect the heritage of the East Midlands. It also confirmed it would divide the services into three segments:[5]
- EMR Intercity for long-distance services from London St Pancras
- EMR Regional for services across the East Midlands
- EMR Electrics for the outer suburban London St Pancras to Corby service
Services
EMR operates commuter services from London St Pancras to Corby, as well as intercity services from London St Pancras along the Midland Main Line to Nottingham and Sheffield with limited extensions to Lincoln, Leeds, York and Scarborough. EMR also operate the local East Midlands services and inter regional services to Liverpool and Norwich (Express service). Services from Nottingham to Liverpool Lime Street will transfer to another operator during the life of the franchise.[6] The Barton line was expected to transfer from Northern in 2019, but this has been delayed.[7]
Over the course of the franchise, several planned timetable changes are to be made:[6]
- Earlier and later trains between Sheffield and Nottingham to East Midlands Parkway
- Earlier and later trains between Sheffield and London St Pancras and more regular evening service to London St Pancras
- 2 trains per hour between Nottingham and Kettering
- 2 trains per hour between Corby and London St Pancras
- Regular Sunday service between Corby and London St Pancras
- Liverpool to Nottingham transferred to another operator
- Norwich to Nottingham extended to Derby
- Regular hourly Sunday service between Norwich and Derby
- Crewe to Derby service extended to Nottingham and hourly service on Sundays
- Hourly Sunday service between Matlock and Nottingham
- Hourly service between Nottingham and Grimsby Town with limited extension to Cleethorpes
- Hourly Sunday service between Lincoln and Grimsby Town
- Hourly service between Nottingham and Newark Castle
- Hourly Sunday service between Worksop and Nottingham and later evening services on weekdays
- Additional peak services between Nottingham and Grantham
- Earlier and later trains between Nottingham and Boston
- Later evening service on weekdays and a new Sunday service
- Hourly through service between Doncaster and Peterborough via Lincoln
- New Sunday service between Doncaster and Lincoln
- Enhanced Sunday service on Barton to Cleethorpes route
- 2 trains per day between Lincoln and London St Pancras
- Newark Northgate to Grimsby Town service cut back to Lincoln except to for the limited extension to Cleethorpes and timed to run with LNER's London Kings Cross - Lincoln service
2020 Coronavirus outbreak
As part of the British response to the COVID-19 pandemic, East Midlands Railway reduced its services to protect its staff and discourage non-essential travel. As of 18 May 2020, emergency schedules are as follows:[8]
- Intercity
- 1tph from St Pancras to Sheffield - calling at Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, and Chesterfield
- 1tph from St Pancras to Nottingham, calling at Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, and Beeston
- 1tph shuttle between Kettering and Corby
- Regional
- 1tph from Liverpool Lime Street to Nottingham, with one train per two hours extended to Norwich
- 1tph from Derby to Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent, excepting the cancellation of every third service
- 1tph from Nottingham to Worksop
- 1tph from Lincoln to Leicester
- 5tpd from Peterborough to Lincoln via Sleaford, with reduced operating hours
- 4tpd from Doncaster to Lincoln, with no Sunday services
- 1tp2h from Nottingham to Skegness via Grantham, with reduced operating hours
- 1tp2h from Matlock to Newark Castle via Nottingham, with reduced operating hours and no service beyond Nottingham on Sundays
- 1tp2h from Newark Northgate to Grimsby Town (3tpd from Newark Northgate to Cleethorpes on Sundays), with reduced operating hours
Rolling stock
East Midlands Railway inherited a fleet of 28 InterCity 125s, 21 Class 153s, 15 Class 156s, 26 Class 158s, and 27 Class 222s from East Midlands Trains. In January 2020 nine additional Class 156 units from Greater Anglia were introduced into service. This allowed 18 Class 153 units to be withdraw from service. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic 4 Class 153 units have been brought back into service to help with social distancing. Nine 8-carriage InterCity 125 sets have also been transferred from London North Eastern Railway, with the first set having entered service on 4 May 2020.[9][10]Due to the condition of the ex-London North Eastern Railway MK3 coaches, all services are currently using the MK3 coaches of those Class 43 locomotives that have been withdrawn from service.
By the end of 2022 East Midlands Railway plans to run EMR Intercity services using 33 new bi-mode Class 810s, EMR Electric services using 21 refurbished Class 360s, and EMR Regional services using 40 Class 170s. East Midlands Railway will become the largest operator of Class 170s. The new and refurbished trains will provide[11]:
- a more reliable service
- improved comfort
- passenger information system displays
- free on-board Wi-Fi
- at-seat power sockets
- USB points
- air conditioning
- tables at all seats
- increased luggage space
As of August 2020 the 4 Class 180s are currently in storage at Derby Etches Park awaiting driver training. 3 Class 170s have been fully painted in EMR Regional livery and Unit 170416[12] is currently operating driver training runs between Leicester and Newark Castle.
Current fleet
Trainset | Class | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes Operated and Notes: | Built | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mph | km/h | ||||||||
Shunting locomotive | |||||||||
08[13] | Shunter | 15 | 24 | 4 | N/A | Stock movements | 1952–62 | ||
EMR Intercity | |||||||||
InterCity 125 | 43 | Loco | 125 | 200 | 6 | 6 or 8 |
|
1976–82 | |
6 | |||||||||
23[14] | |||||||||
Mark 3 | Coach | 136 |
|
1975–88 | |||||
78 | |||||||||
Bombardier Voyager | 222 Meridian | DEMU | 125 | 200 | 4 | 4 | 2003–05 | ||
17 | 5 | ||||||||
6 | 7 | ||||||||
EMR Regional | |||||||||
Sprinter | 153 Super Sprinter | DMU | 75 | 120 | 11 | 1 |
|
1987–88 | |
156 Super Sprinter | 24 | 2 |
|
1987–89 | |||||
158/0 Express Sprinter | 90 | 145 | 26 | 2 |
|
1989–92 | |||
Future fleet
Existing stock to be added will consist of 21 Class 360s from Greater Anglia, 28 Class 170s (5 from Abellio ScotRail and 23 from West Midlands Trains[15]), 12 Class 171s from Southern (which will be converted back to Class 170s) and 4 Class 180s from Hull Trains,[16][17] those altogether will enable the High Speed Trains, Class 153, Class 156 and Class 158 sets to be withdrawn although some of the gaps will be filled in when Liverpool-Nottingham service is taken over by another operator. The Class 360 will be introduced as a result of the electrification of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Corby and will displace Class 222 from London-Corby services. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the electrification between Bedford and Corby has been delayed and the Class 360s are now expected to enter service in May 2021 instead of December 2020.[18] The latter will then work on other InterCity Routes where they will replace the HSTs, working alongside the Class 180s.[19][20]
3x 6-carriage HSTs are to be retained until December 2020, when they will be replaced by Class 180s.[21]
33x 5-carriage Class 810 bi-mode trains will be introduced in 2022.,[22][23][24] this will enable the Class 180 and Class 222s to be withdrawn.
Trainset | Class | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes Operated | In Service | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mph | km/h | ||||||||
EMR Intercity | |||||||||
Alstom Coradia | 180 Adelante | DMU | 125 | 200 | 4 | 5 | 2020 | ||
Hitachi AT300 | 810 | BMU | 33[25] | 2022 | |||||
EMR Electrics | |||||||||
Siemens Desiro | 360 | EMU | 110 | 180 | 21 | 4 | 2021[26] | ||
EMR Regional | |||||||||
Bombardier Turbostar | 170 | DMU | 100 | 161 | 23[27] | 2 |
|
2020–21 | |
100 | 161 | 5 | 3 |
|
2020–21 | ||||
100 | 161 | 4 | 2 |
To be converted from ex-Southern Class 171s |
2022[28] | ||||
8 | 3 | ||||||||
Past fleet
As of July 2020, 10 Class 153s have been withdrawn from EMR's regional fleet, 4 were transferred to Transport for Wales, whilst the remaining 6 units went into storage. 18 Class 153s will be replaced by the 9 Class 156s transferred from Greater Anglia. However, some units have been brought back into service to help with social distancing on services. As of August 2020, 10 Class 43s have gone into storage, 3 were transferred to Locomotive Services Limited, and 3 were transferred to D.A.T.S Ltd after being replaced by the ex-LNER Class 43s.
Trainset | Class | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes | Transferred to | Withdrawn | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mph | km/h | |||||||||
EMR Intercity | ||||||||||
InterCity 125 | 43 | Loco | 125 | 200 | 16 | N/A |
|
Storage (10)
Locomotive Services Limited (3) D.A.T.S Ltd (3) |
2020 | |
EMR Regional | ||||||||||
Sprinter | 153 Super Sprinter | DMU | 75 | 120 | 10 | 1 |
|
Transport for Wales (4)
Storage off-lease (6) |
2019–20 |
Depots
Train crew depots are located at:
- London – London route drivers, Train Managers, Customer Hosts and revenue protection officers
- Leicester – Revenue Protection Officers
- Derby – London and Local route Drivers, Train Managers, Senior Conductors, Crew Leaders, Chefs, Customer Hosts and Revenue Protection Officers
- Nottingham – Local route Drivers (although 12 Drivers trained on HSTs for Summer Skegness and Charter trains), Train Managers, Senior Conductors, Customer Hosts and Revenue Protection Officers
- Sheffield – Train Managers, Crew Leaders, Chefs, Customer Hosts and Revenue Protection Officers
- Boston – Local route Drivers and Senior Conductors
- Lincoln Central – Local route Drivers and Senior Conductors
- Norwich – Local route Drivers and Senior Conductors
Trains are maintained at:
- London, Cricklewood (fueling and cleaning of HST & 222)
- Derby Etches Park (heavy maintenance of 222, 153, 156 & 158, light maintenance of HST)
- Nottingham Eastcroft (light maintenance of 153, 156 & 158)
- Boston (cleaning of 153, 156 & 158)
- Arriva TrainCare, Crewe (light maintenance of 153, 156 & 158)
- Leeds, Neville Hill (heavy maintenance of HST)
- Crown Point (light maintenance of 158)
Shunter drivers are employed by EMR at Derby, Nottingham and Leeds.
On-train catering for standard-class passengers on routes 1 and 2 was, as of September 2010, contracted out to RG (Previously known as Rail Gourmet), which has depots at London St Pancras, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Although all stations are owned by Network Rail, their day-to-day management is handled by train operating companies. EMR manages the following stations: Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Market Harborough, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Stamford, South Wigston, Narborough, Hinckley, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Peartree, Uttoxeter, Kidsgrove, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Beeston, Nottingham, Alfreton, Sleaford, Boston and Skegness. They also have staff at St Pancras International, although the station itself is managed by Network Rail.
References
- Three prequalify for next East Midlands franchise Railway Gazette International 1 March 2017
- Abellio joins East Midlands franchise shortlist Railway Gazette International 6 February 2018
- First Group and Trenitalia pull out of East Midlands franchise contest International Railway Journal 23 April 2018
- More seats, services and state-of-the-art trains for passengers on new East Midlands railway Department for Transport 10 April 2019
- Pegden, Tom. "How Midland Mainline trains will soon look". Leicester Mercury. Reach plc. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- East Midlands Rail Franchise Department for Transport
- East Midlands rail franchise consultation Department for Transport
- Important Coronavirus Travel Information – Introduction of reduced timetable
- Clinnick, Richard. "Cascaded LNER HSTs to plug the gap in East Midlands fleet". RAIL. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
- First EMR HST replacement in service next week Railway Herald Issue 673 22 January 2020 page 8
- http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-midlands-rail-franchise/
- https://twitter.com/EastMidRailway/status/1263409197724520448
- Brown, Doc. "08 Train". DocBrown. Phil Brown. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/east-midlands-railway-livery-and-station-branding.187931/page-18
- Clinnick, Richard. "Progress on new train fleets continues". RAIL. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- Hitachi rumoured to have won EMR bi-mode deal Rail issue 884 31 July 2019 page 28
- East Midlands Railway unveils new look Today's Railways UK issue 212 August 2019 page 13
- https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/transport/big-changes-kettering-wellingborough-and-corby-train-services-delayed-until-next-year-2904630
- EMR Regional Fleet in the future
- ,railforums uk
- EMR Bi-Mode Specification Confirmed Modern Railways issue 856 January 2020 page 19
- "Abellio invests £400 million in new Hitachi trains for East Midlands Railway". 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Abellio orders East Midlands inter-city fleet Railway Gazette International 30 July 2019
- https://twitter.com/C_G_Wright/status/1230194494529732613
- Pritchard, Robert, ed. (September 2019). "Hitachi Scoops Order for East Midlands". Today's Railways. No. 213. Sheffield: Platform 5. p. 6. ISSN 1475-9713.
- https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/transport/big-changes-kettering-wellingborough-and-corby-train-services-delayed-until-next-year-2904630
- 170630-170635 formerly in 3 car formation
- Clinnick, Richard (2019-08-30). "It has been announced officially. The WMT 2/3-car 170s move to EMR, as do 5 170/4s owned by Eversholt in Scotland. The latter are the first to move. The 171 fleet from Southern moves to EMR by end of 2022 at which point all existing 15x units will have left EMR". @Clinnick1. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abellio East Midlands Railway. |
Preceded by East Midlands Trains |
Operator of East Midlands franchise 2019-2027 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |