| Franchise(s): | Midland Mainline April 1996 – November 2007 |
|---|---|
| Main Region(s): | East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Other Region(s): | East of England |
| Fleet size: | 23 Class 222 Meridian sets 28 HST power cars |
| Stations called at: | 27 (7 operated) |
| National Rail abbreviation: | ML |
| Parent company: | National Express Group |
Midland Mainline (MML) was a British train operating company owned by the National Express Group and based in Derby. It was created after the privatisation of British Rail. Midland Mainline services operated from April 1996 to November 2007.
Midland Mainline ran fast and semi-fast passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line. Trains ran from London St Pancras which it used exclusively. Most services ran between London and either Sheffield, Derby, or Nottingham. Some services extended to Leeds, York, Barnsley and Burton upon Trent.
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Intercity Midland Mainline were probably the forgotten operator in the 1990s. They operated Class 43 High Speed Train at 110 mph along the Midland Main Line (MML) with frequent stops, meaning the trains were not very fast, and were not very frequent. You could reach most places on the MML faster using the West or East Coast Main Lines by one change of train. All this changed in 1999 when Midland Mainline (TOC) introduced a new timetable and new trains.
Midland Mainline were taken over by National Express group, and ordered a brand new batch of 3-car Class 170 Turbostar local trains to operate stopping services.[1] The frequency of services was doubled overnight, which was a catalyst for the line's passenger numbers to boom. This eventually had its downside in that the turbostar trains were simply not fast enough, and didn't carry enough capacity to deal with passenger growth. A solution was found by 2004, when another new batch of trains was ordered. The Class 222 Meridian trains were based on the controversial Virgin Cross Country Class 220 Voyager trains, however were built with the voyager criticisms taken rectified. The trains were built to run at the same speed as the High Speed Trains, and could tackle frequent stopping services with faster acceleration.
On 22 June 2007, the Department for Transport announced that Midland Mainline had lost the franchise to operate these services from 11 November 2007. Services were transferred to East Midlands Trains, operated by Stagecoach Group. Midland Mainline then ceased to operate.[2]
The off peak service pattern, upon conclusion of the franchise in November 2007, consisted of four departures per hour from St Pancras. There were two 'fast' and two 'semi-fast' trains per hour. The hourly pattern from St Pancras was as below:
xx00: semi-fast to Derby, calling at:
with a journey time of 1 hour 56 minutes.
with a journey time of 2 hours 26 minutes.
with a journey time around 3 hours 14 minutes.
with a journey time of 4 hours 46 minutes to Scarborough and 3 hours 56 minutes to York.
This service was operated by a four or five car Class 222 Meridian.
xx25: fast to Sheffield, generally calling just at:
with a journey time around 2 hours 21 minutes.
with a journey time of 3 hours 17 minutes
with a journey time of 2 hours 14 minutes from Leicester
This service was generally operated by a Class 43 High Speed Train, although a few diagrams use an eight car Class 222 Meridian
xx30: semi-fast to Nottingham, calling at:
with a journey time of 1 hour 56 minutes.
This service was operated by a four or five car Class 222 Meridian
xx55: fast to Nottingham, generally calling at:
with a journey time of 1 hour 41 minutes.
This service was generally operated by an eight car Class 222 Meridian although sometimes a diagram uses a Class 43 High Speed Train,
Midland Mainline operated a limited service between London St Pancras and Leeds, with three early morning departures from Leeds and four evening return trips from St Pancras. This is principally because the main maintenance depot for the Midland Mainline HST power cars was the Maintrain depot at Neville Hill in Leeds. The service did not compare favourably with the principal service from London to Leeds along the East Coast Main Line operated by GNER. The Midland Main Line has a much slower line speed. The journey time on the Midland route is around 3 hours 17 minutes.
Midland Mainline had plans for a regular service between London St Pancras and Leeds via Nottingham, the Erewash Valley, Sheffield and Barnsley but these were rejected by the Strategic Rail Authority.
Through trains between London St Pancras and Matlock were stopped when Class 222 Meridian units were introduced as they are not allowed on the Derwent Valley Line branch line, unlike the Class 170 Turbostar which previously operated the route.
A small number of trains operated between London St Pancras and Sheffield via Nottingham and along the Erewash Valley to Chesterfield serving Langley Mill and Alfreton. There were also a small number of through trains between St Pancras and Burton upon Trent, Belper, and Barnsley.
Midland Mainline operated summer weekend services between London and Scarborough on Saturdays providing the only through service between the capital and the North Yorkshire coast, and York on Sundays. There was also a Saturday service from London to York at 06:20 and arriving at 10:16. It formed the first service of the day out of St Pancras. The return trip was at 17:49 and arriving at London at 21:52. The service goes via Doncaster as opposed to Leeds. On Sunday, the service to York runs from Leicester rather than London, with the return service being via the Erewash Valley to Nottingham, where it reverses to call at all MML stations (except Loughborough and Luton Airport Parkway) to London.
During 2003/4, Midland Mainline operated a temporary service between London St Pancras and Manchester Piccadilly whilst the West Coast Main Line between Manchester and Euston underwent engineering work. This service was known as Project Rio, named after the footballer Rio Ferdinand who had made a record transfer to from Leeds United to Manchester United Football Club. The units used on Project Rio were intended for use on services from Leeds and instead were used to Manchester - hence the connection.
The service used the Midland Main Line as far as Trent Junction, before taking the Erewash Valley Line (avoiding Derby) to Clay Cross, rejoining the Midland Main Line until Dore South Curve, which linked trains onto the Hope Valley Line towards Manchester. It ran from May 2003 and finished in September 2004. Former Virgin Cross-Country Class 43 High Speed Train sets were used and were quickly painted into Midland Mainline livery. South of Leicester the service ran in the path of the XX:30 semi-fast Nottingham train, with an additional Leicester to Nottingham service introduced using the displaced Turbostars.
The service was run at the request of, and underwritten by, the SRA for a period of 1 year. While perhaps popular with a niche market, the total number of passengers per train frequently fell below a dozen between Leicester and Stockport. The considered success (or failure) of Project Rio is perhaps down to the existing Virgin London service still remaining considerably faster than the Hope Valley route, even taking into account the diversions during the engineering works. The low line speed on the Hope Valley, plus the fact that the trains called at all station south of Leicester was a big factor in the increased journey time. There were also often reliability issues with the ex-Virgin HST sets, leading to delays or cancellations, although it was found that that when running well the HSTs could easily maintain the Turbostar times south of Leicester due to superior acceleration of the 2+7 sets.
Categorised as a long distance operator Midland Mainline compared favourably to other operators in its category. The last performance figures for Midland Mainline published by the Office of Rail Regulation were a Public Performance Measure of 92.9% for the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8 and a Monthly Annual Average of 92.4%.[3] Midland Mainline was also awarded Passenger Operator of the Year 2006.[4]
Midland Mainline trains boasted a buffet car, known as the "MM bar", which served hot and cold food and drinks. Midland Mainline was the only operator to offer complimentary free tea and coffee to all passengers, including those in standard class. In 2007, the company announced that it would be serving Fairtrade tea and coffee on its trains. 4.5 million cups were served to passengers each year.[5]
Midland Mainline's fleet consisted of the following trains at the time they ceased service.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Quantity | Unit numbers | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||||
| Class 43 High Speed Train | Diesel locomotive | 125 | 200 | 31 | 43007 / 43043 - 43050 / 43052 / 43054 - 43055 / 43058 - 43061 / 43064 / 43066 / 43072 - 43076 / 43081 - 43083 / 43085 / 43104 / 43166 / 43178 / 43184 | Midland Main Line | 1976–1982 | |
| Class 222 Meridian | diesel electric multiple unit | 125 | 200 | 23 | 222001 - 222023 | Midland Main Line | 2003-2005 | |
| Mark 3 coach | Passenger carriage | 125 | 200 | Midland Main Line | 1975–1988 | |||
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Quantity | Unit numbers | Routes operated | Built | Withdrawn From MML services | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Class 170 Turbostar | diesel multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 17 | 170101-170117 | Midland Main Line | 1999 | 2004 | |
Midland Mainline had the following named units / locos.
| HST names | |
|---|---|
| 43049 | Neville Hill |
| 43055 | Sheffield Star |
| 43069 | Rio Enterprise |
| 43072 | Derby Etches Park |
| Meridian names | |
|---|---|
| 222004 | City of Sheffield |
| 222005 | City of Nottingham |
| 222006 | City of Leicester |
| 222007 | City of Derby |
Midland Mainline re-configured the Meridian units from the end of 2006 to the start of 2007, reducing the nine-car sets to eight-car sets and increasing seven of the four-car sets to five-car sets to better provide for seating demand.
Also, until they were replaced by class 222 meridians, MML provided 3-car class 170 turbostars to run on local routes. They were cascaded to Central Trains when the 222s were introduced.
London St Pancras, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield.
Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford Midland, Loughborough, Long Eaton, Willington, Burton upon Trent, Beeston, Nottingham, Langley Mill, Alfreton, Dronfield, Meadowhall, Barnsley, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds, York, Scarborough.
Duffield, Ambergate, Whatstandwell, Cromford, Matlock Bath, Matlock, Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly.
The Midland Mainline franchise continued to operate until November 2007 before becoming part of the East Midlands franchise which includes former Central Trains services in the East Midlands.
On the 22 June 2007, the Department for Transport announced that Stagecoach had won the franchise.[2]
As National Express, the company that ran Midland Mainline, lost the franchise bid, on the 11 November 2007 all services transferred to East Midlands Trains and Midland Mainline ceased to exist.
| Preceded by InterCity As part of British Rail |
Operator of Midland Main Line franchise 1996 - 2007 |
Succeeded by East Midlands Trains East Midlands franchise |
| Preceded by ? |
Train Operator of the Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Anglia Railways |
| Preceded by London Underground |
Passenger Operator of the Year 2006 |
Incumbent |
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