East Midlands
While DfT’s East Midlands consultation discusses 12-car trains and faster journeys, EMT’s HST fleet faces uncertain future.
The new East Midlands franchise will be designed to separate inter-city and commuter markets on the Midland Main Line, with the Department for Transport consultation claiming it will “improve services for both”.
The aim is to cut journey times on long-distance trains from London to Nottingham and Sheffield by up to 20 minutes, through a reduction in stops at stations that have higher commuter numbers such as Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering. These could instead by served by “high-quality” commuter trains operating on the Corby-London route, that could be up to 12 vehicles long.
Line speed improvements are also planned, as is an aim to deliver 1,000 additional seats in a peak hour - an increase of more than 50%.
As well as the introduction of bi-mode trains in 2022, Government expects the next operator to plan modern, fast, efficient and comfortable trains for the MML. It also wants proposals for comfortable, high-quality trains suitable for serving commuter passengers for London.
Electrification of the MML could mean the end of direct LondonMelton Mowbray/Oakham trains, due to lack of plans to wire north of Corby.
And there is the possibility of inclusion for Nottinghamshire County Council’s plans to
reinstate passenger trains on the Shirebrook-Ollerton line that is currently used for freight and as a test track.
Options for the LiverpoolNorwich route include reducing the number of stops at smaller stations such as Bottesford, and providing direct trains between Nottingham and Cambridge/Stansted Airport, which could then have an impact on the CrossCountry franchise.
There is also the possibility that the Liverpool-Norwich section could be broken up, with the DfT giving consideration to splitting the trains at Nottingham or Sheffield and transferring those services to TransPennine Express. Another option is to terminate the trains at these stations and asking passengers to change.
The Birmingham-Nottingham trains operated by XC could be included in the new EM franchise, to create and restore routes such as Lincoln-Birmingham, while Birmingham-Leicester/ Stansted Airport could also be transferred from the XC franchise to EM, enabling bidders to look at restoring the Norwich-Birmingham route.
The public consultation closes on October 11, with the Invitation to Tender to be issued in April 2018. DfT plans to award the franchise in spring 2019, ready for an August 2019 start. Currently Stagecoach operates the East Midlands Trains deal. ■ See Industry Insider, page 73.