Major Midland meltdown

Lack of leadership threatens more misery for passengers

The Midland Main Line is hurtling towards a major problem in the next few months, ahead of the new East Midlands franchise that is expected to be re-let in August 2019… although it’s not for a lack of people trying to resolve the issue.

The route has been something of a political flashpoint in recent weeks, but the problems can be traced back much further. As is the case across much of the UK, rolling stock and Government indecision remains the root cause of the problem.

All stock in use on the national network must meet disability regulations by January 1 2020. Failure to comply means, quite simply, that the trains cannot run. With this in mind, questions have been asked in Parliament about the fleet of High Speed Trains used by East Midlands Trains, the principal operator on the Midland Main Line.

EMT has eight sets of 2+8 formation, with a ninth set sub-leased to Virgin Trains East Coast. These are owned by Porterbrook. Three further 2+ 6 sets will be introduced by EMT from early next year, following their cascade from Grand Central. These are not the only inter-city trains on the MML, with Eversholt Rail Group’s 27 Class 222s also operated by EMT (in a mixture of four-car, five-car and seven-car formations). These will meet compliance rules by 2020, and so are not affected. But this is not the case with the HSTs.

Back in late 2014, RAIL visited Neville Hill depot, where the HSTs are maintained. Back then, fleet managers were expecting the veteran trains to be retired by the end of the franchise - which was about to be extended and which, after further extensions, will now end in 2019. But even then, there was no sign of the trains being modified, or even talk of replacement trains.

In 2015, Porterbrook told RAIL that it had no plans to carry out the accessibility modifications. But then Government ‘paused’ electrification of the MML in mid-2015 ( RAIL 778), and Porterbrook declared that it was evaluating its options ( RAIL 779).

“Clearly the disposal of the fleet is one of the options, but possibly not the most likely one at this stage,” it told RAIL in July 2015. “HSTs now being used in Scotland past 2020 gives us a template to work with.”

So, back in mid-2015, a rolling stock company (ROSCO) was considering what to do with these trains. Options were available… but nothing happened. Should Government have stepped in and made decisions that would have prevented continuing uncertainty?

After all, back in December 2014 ( RAIL 764), Porterbrook had said: “We expect that the HSTs will remain with EMT until such time as they are replaced by electric trains once the route has been electrified.”

On September 11 2015 then-Rail Minister Claire Perry, responding to then-Shadow Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, said: “I have frequent meetings on a range of issues including rolling stock. We are committed to putting passengers first.”

Greenwood had asked what recent discussions the Transport Secretary had had with East Midlands Trains and rolling stock companies on (a) extending the operational life of Intercity 125 trains operating on the Midland Main Line and making them compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and (b) procuring new inter-city rolling stock for operation on that line. What happened? Nothing.

So, we were left with a situation where the HSTs were to be withdrawn, the plans changed, the ROSCO came up with a solution, this solution was put forward both commercially and politically, yet nothing happened.

And when plans for the MML radically changed, the ROSCO had little time to be able to do anything because the specialist contractor required to carry out what is quite an invasive modification has its diary full with HSTs being modified for three other operators. And while the need to alter ScotRail’s HST fleet was common knowledge in 2015, the need to adapt the CrossCountry fleet and Great Western Railway ‘short sets’ was only announced this year. A whole year has been wasted.

And what do passengers in the East Midlands get? Uncertainty.

According to the latest consultation regarding the franchise, electric trains will be introduced in places from 2020. But major changes are planned with 12-car electric multiple units that will run to Corby calling at intermediate stations.

‘Express’ services will run from St Pancras to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield, but will not stop anywhere south of Kettering. This may be popular further north, especially in Sheffield, but further south it’s gone down like a lead balloon. Journey times will increase, and passengers used to an inter-city service will be forced to transfer to a commuter route. This has been described by the Mayor of Bedford as a “betrayal to local rail users”.

Remember, this is a town that has been disrupted over the past decade by the Thameslink Programme. But with the end of that massive upgrade on the horizon, passengers are now facing the prospect of their fast-inter- city trains to/from London being removed. Whether they want head north or south, they face a more complicated journey.

After the MML electrification was cancelled on July 20 ( RAIL 832), Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling declared that a fleet of bi-mode trains would be ordered for the new East Midlands franchise. However, these will not be delivered until 2022, leaving a two-year gap.

This is a Government- created problem, so what was its reaction? “It is the responsibility for the operator of the East Midlands franchise to ensure the trains which are currently operated on the Midland Main Line meet modern accessibility standards by 2020. Any trains being introduced on to the line must also be built or modified to be compliant with those standards,” was the response from Rail Minister Paul Maynard in a Commons Written Reply on December 6.

I disagree. The Government specified Class 700s for Thameslink and the Intercity Express Programme Class 800/801 fleets for the Great Western and East Coast Main Lines, as part of major network upgrades. Why does it not do likewise for the Midland Main Line?

Bearing in mind all this uncertainty, surely the Government needs to resolve this issue rather than leaving it to the franchise operator, especially as the new franchise is due to start four months before the disability rules must be enforced?

The MML is a key artery. It serves major cities on a route that is often overlooked. The East Midlands is a region similarly overlooked when it comes to rail investment. Now its users face yet more Government-inflicted unpredictability. They deserve better. Nigel Harris will be back next issue. All at RAIL wish our readers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

“Should Government have stepped in and made decisions that would have prevented continuing undertainty?”