| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Franchise(s) |
|
| Main region(s) | |
| Other region(s) | East of England |
| Fleet size |
|
| Parent company | Abellio |
| Reporting mark | EM[1] |
| Predecessor | East Midlands Trains |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
Abellio East Midlands Limited,[3] trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
In March 2017, the Department for Transport announced that Arriva, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia, and incumbent Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next East Midlands franchise.[4] Abellio was added in February 2018.[5]
FirstGroup and Trenitalia pulled out of the bidding process in April 2018 to focus on the West Coast Partnership franchise.[6] 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.[7]
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:[8]
In April 2021 it was announced that EMR Electrics would be rebranded as EMR Connect.[9]
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a collapse in revenues in March 2020, the franchise was suspended and replaced by an Emergency Measure Agreement for six months under which the Department for Transport assumed responsibility for all revenues and costs and EMR was paid a management fee.[10] This was superseded by an Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement (ERMA) under which the original franchise agreement was terminated. The franchise will operate until March 2022.[11][12]
In 2021, the DfT issued an updated prior information notice, which confirmed that the ERMA period would be extended until 16 October 2022.[13] Following this the company was given a direct award of a four-year National Rail Contract, with the option of extending it for a further period of up to four years.[2]
EMR was one of several train operators impacted by the 2022-2023 United Kingdom railway strikes, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades.[14] Its workers were amongst those who participated in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.[15]
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. 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 were to transfer to another operator during the life of the franchise,[16] although following a review by the DfT, this will no longer take place; the service instead being split at Nottingham as intended but remaining with EMR.[17] The Barton line was expected to transfer from Northern in 2019 but this was delayed until May 2021.[18][19]
On 19 June 2021, the EMR Regional services were cut to enable the timetable to run effectively.[20] Although EMR said that 85% of services were still running, there was still an impact to local commuter services.[21]
Contactless payment cards can be used between London St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway.[22]
Over the course of the franchise, several planned timetable changes are to be made:[16]
As of December 2022, East Midlands Railway's off-peak services Monday-Friday include:[23]
East Midlands Railway inherited a fleet of 28 Class 43s, 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. Nine 8-carriage InterCity 125 sets were also transferred from London North Eastern Railway, with the first set having entered service on 4 May 2020. They were replaced in May 2021.[24] To replace the ex-Grand Central “buffered” HST sets, EMR commenced a lease of the 4 former Hull Trains Class 180 fleet despite their history of technical difficulties, with the first units entering service on 13 December 2020.[25][26] On 16 May 2021, East Midlands Railway launched EMR Connect services between Corby and London St Pancras, which has enabled the final HSTs to be withdrawn.[27] The Connect service is operated by ex-Greater Anglia Class 360s.[28][29]
By 2023 East Midlands Railway plans to run EMR Regional services using 40 Class 170s, and plans to run EMR InterCity services using 33 new bi-mode Class 810 Aurora.[30]
| Class | Family | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes operated and notes | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Shunting locomotive | |||||||||
| 08 | Shunter | 15 | 24 | 4 | N/A |
|
1952–1962 | ||
| EMR InterCity | |||||||||
| 222 Meridian | Bombardier Voyager | DEMU | 125 | 200 | 23[31] | 5 | 2003–2005 | ||
| 4[31] | 7 | ||||||||
  | |||||||||
| 180 Adelante | Alstom Coradia | DHMU | 125 | 200 | 3[32] | 5 |
|
2000–2001 | |
| 1[32] | 4 | ||||||||
 | |||||||||
| EMR Connect | |||||||||
| 360 Desiro | Siemens Desiro | EMU | 110 | 180 | 21[32] | 4 | 2002–2003 | ||
| EMR Regional | |||||||||
| 156 Super Sprinter | Sprinter | DMU | 75 | 120 | 11[33][a] | 2 |
|
1987–1989 | |
| 158/0 Express Sprinter | 90 | 145 | 26[32] | 2 |
|
1989–1992 | |||
| 170 Turbostar | Bombardier Turbostar | 100 | 161 | 8[34] | 3 |
|
1999–2001 | ||
| 100 | 161 | 16[32] | 2 |
|
1999–2002 | ||||
To replace the Class 180 and Class 222 units, 33 5-carriage Class 810 bi-mode trains will be introduced in 2023.[35][36] In May 2020, EMR opened a competition to give the class their own unique brand name.[37] In October 2020, EMR announced that the fleet will have the 'Aurora' brand.[38]
Other existing stock to be added consist of 39 Class 170s; 23 from West Midlands Trains, 12 from Transport for Wales and 4 from Southern.[39][40][41][42] Those altogether will enable the Class 153, Class 156, and Class 158 sets to be withdrawn, although some of the gaps were to be filled in when the Liverpool-Nottingham service was taken over by another operator. This will now not take place, with a proposal made to transfer 15 Class 185 units from TransPennine Express to prevent the shortfall in stock caused by EMR retaining this service, with another solution being to retain the Class 158s.[17][43] It was expected that 12 Class 171 units would transfer from Southern.[39][44][45] However, due to no replacement units being sourced, this will not take place, with the Transport for Wales Class 170s replacing the planned transfer of Class 171s from Southern.[39][43] In May 2022 however, it was announced that 4 Class 171s would transfer from Southern, with expected entry into service being in the autumn of 2022. These units will be converted to Class 170s, reformed into 3-carriage sets and work alongside the rest of the fleet.[42] Three of these units were transferred to EMR on 7 September 2022 having been reformed from their previous two-and-four-car formations.[34] The fourth unit is due to transfer in late 2023 as 170421.[46]
| Class | Family | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes operated | In service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| EMR InterCity | |||||||||
| 810 Aurora | Hitachi AT300 | BMU | 125 | 200 | 33[47] | 5 | 2023[48] | ||
| EMR Regional | |||||||||
| 170 Turbostar | Bombardier Turbostar | DMU | 100 | 161 | 11[49][a] | 2 |
|
2022 | |
| 100 | 161 | 8 | 3 |
| |||||
 | |||||||||
| 100 | 161 | 1 | 3 |
|
2023 | ||||
| |||||||||
The last of the InterCity 125 sets East Midlands Railway inherited from East Midlands Trains were withdrawn in December 2020, having been replaced by five ex LNER InterCity 125 sets which were more compliant with new regulations and four Class 180s.[50] Originally nine former LNER sets were to replace a similar number of sets inherited from East Midlands Trains. However, after the carriages were found to require more repairs than originally envisaged, this was cut back to five sets.[51]
In December 2021, the final Class 153s were withdrawn, as they were not PRM (Persons with Reduced Mobility) compliant, with Class 156s replacing them on the Barton line from 13 December.[52][53] These units were placed into storage at Long Marston and Ely Papworth Sidings in December 2021.[54]
In December 2022, four Class 156 units went off lease and were sent for storage at Barrow Hill, with East Midlands Railway stating that they will be moved to Ely Papworth sidings at a later date.[55][56]
| Class | Family | Image | Type | Top Speed | Number | Cars | Routes | Withdrawn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| EMR InterCity | |||||||||
| 43 (HST) | InterCity 125 | Loco | 125 | 200 | 24 | N/A |
|
2020 | |
| 6[57] | |||||||||
| 23 | 2020–2021 | ||||||||
| Mark 3 | Coach | 94[58] | 2020 | ||||||
| 78[59] | 2020–2021 | ||||||||
| EMR Regional | |||||||||
| 153 Super Sprinter | Sprinter | DMU | 75 | 120 | 21[58][60] | 1 |
|
2019–2021 | |
| 156 Super Sprinter | 13[33] | 2 | 2021-2022 | ||||||
EMR operates two depots: Derby Etches Park and Nottingham Eastcroft.[61] The Class 360s are maintained at Bedford Cauldwell Walk depot by Siemens Mobility.[62]
East Midlands Railway was investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority, who in September 2021 found that they had breached marketing codes. The firm had launched a competition in February 2021 asking participants for ideas to "Build Back Better" with the chance of winning £5,000. However, the competition was closed and the prize not awarded. East Midlands Railway stated that this was due to financial concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the low quality of entries received.[63]
