Central Trains

Infobox Rail companies
bgcolor=FFFFFF
image_filename=170518_at_Peterborough.jpg
widthpx=300px
franchise=Central
2 March 1997 – 11 November 2007
logo_filename=Central trains logo.pngnameforarea=Region
abbr=CT
regions=Midlands (East, West)
secregions=North West, East Anglia
fleet=156
stations=232 (193 operated)
parent_company=National Express Group
website=

Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and long-distance services in central England. The company’s operations were centred on Birmingham in the West Midlands.

The longer-distance services were branded as Central Citylink.

Overview

The franchise covered 1,305 miles (2,100 km) of railway, and had in its last years more than 43 million passenger journeys per year, travelling a total of 930 million miles (1,495 million km).

On 19 October 2004, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that at the end of the current franchise in 2006, Central Trains’ routes would be divided between the Silverlink, Chiltern, Virgin Cross Country, Midland Mainline and Northern Rail franchises.cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/railfranchisingarrangementso5945
title=Rail franchising arrangements, October 2004|publisher=Department for Transport] The end of the franchise was delayed until 11 November 2007 when London Midland took over most of the routes.

From a low pre-privatisation base, the company ended with £74 million worth of new trains, replacing the slam-door rolling stock it inherited with modern Class 350 "Desiro" units, which it shared with sister-company Silverlink. It also refurbished many of its stations, introducing ticket gates and "live" information boards, and clamped down on vandalism on its trains.

Central Trains was owned by the National Express Group and employed over 2,400 staff.cite web|url=http://www.centraltrains.co.uk/templates/Page.aspx?id=462|title=Key Facts and Figures|publisher=Central Trains]

In 2006 the company took the step of producing posters with lists of names and addresses of those who had been fined for ticket evasion. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5294672.stm|title=Train firm tackles fare dodging|publisher=BBC News]

Network

Central Trains served 232 stations in the Midlands, North East, North West, Yorkshire and East Anglia. Most services were operated in Central Trains colours except for services in the West Midlands county which operated under contract to Network West Midlands, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive and operated in their livery. These are the main services they operated:

"Citylink" Services

*Birmingham New Street - Liverpool Lime Street
*Birmingham New Street - Preston (one evening peak service Northbound, no Southbound service)
*Birmingham New Street - Stansted Airport
*Cardiff Central - Nottingham
*Liverpool - Norwich via Manchester & Nottingham

Regional Services

*"West Coast Mainline" : Northampton - Crewe/Preston
*Birmingham New Street - Shrewsbury
*Birmingham New Street - Coventry - Northampton
*Birmingham New Street - Nuneaton - Leicester
*Nuneaton - Coventry
*Doncaster / Lincoln Central - Peterborough via Spalding
*Newark North Gate - Lincoln - Grimsby/Cleethorpes
*Leicester - Lincoln Central
*Nottingham - Skegness
*Derby - Matlock
*Derby - Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent
*Derby - Nottingham
*Birmingham - Nottingham
*Nottingham - Leicester
*Nottingham - Mansfield Woodhouse / Worksop
*Stafford - Hanley via Stoke-on-Trent (Bus service)

Network West Midlands Services

*Birmingham - Wolverhampton
*Birmingham - Coventry (Local service)
*"Chase Line" : Birmingham - Walsall / Stafford
*Walsall - Wolverhampton
*"Cross City Line" : Redditch/Longbridge - Four Oaks/Lichfield Trent Valley
*"Snow Hill Lines" : Great Malvern/Kidderminster - Dorridge/Shirley/Stratford-upon-Avon

Performance

Considering the difficulties with which Central Trains contended with, including sharing tracks with so many other operators, it did not perform too badly in its twilight months. The last figures released by the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) rated Central Trains' performance at 84.8% for the PPM (Public Performance Measure) over the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8 [cite web|url=http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/356.pdf PPM actual|title=Office of Rail Regulation - National Rail Trends|publisher=ORR] . This was an improvement over the same period last year, during which they achieved 82.7%. Their final MAA was 86.6% [cite web|url=http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/356.pdf PPM actual|title=Office of Rail Regulation - National Rail Trends|publisher=ORR] . They have always had a reputation for being poor performing with bad customer service though, and this may have been partly why they lost the franchise.Fact|date=July 2008

Rolling Stock

When National Express Group took over Central Trains in 1997, the company started to dispose of its last 1960s and 70s ‘slam door’ trains. By 2000, all older trains were out of service, [cite web|title=Our Fleet|url=http://www.centraltrains.co.uk/templates/ctIndex.aspx?id=452|publisher=Central Trains] and the franchise operated a fleet of one and two carriage Diesel multiple unit railcars, mostly inherited from Regional Railways, the division of British Rail that preceded Central.

These 'Sprinters' were introduced during the 1980s, in line with a policy of replacing locomotive-hauled trains with shorter but more frequent single class rail car services. Soon after the franchise was awarded in March 1997, 33 new Class 170 "Turbostar" 100mph air-conditioned trains were ordered.

Central Trains had recently taken delivery of 30 new 100mph Class 350 "Desiro" units, which were shared with Silverlink County for use on the West Coast Main Line between Euston and Northampton/Liverpool via Tamworth. The additions were part of a £100 million investment by the SRA to improve comfort, convenience, speed and accessibility.

The majority of Central Trains services were operated by diesel trains, as lines they operated were not electrified.

Final fleet

#Built for Central Trains and Silverlink regional express services and Central Citylink services on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.

The end

It was announced in October 2005 that the Central franchise would end in April 2007 (later extended to November 2007 [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4865310.stm|title=Central Trains franchise extended|publisher=BBC News] ), as part of a programme to reduce the number of franchises in the Midlands. Central Trains was split into three parts, each of which was amalgamated with another franchise:
*West Midlands (now operated by London Midland, a new rail franchise owned by Govia), which comprises the former Silverlink County network and all of Central's former services along and west of the West Coast Main Line with the exception of Nuneaton and Tamworth to Birmingham (both now operated by CrossCountry) and Stoke-on-Trent to Crewe (operated by East Midlands Trains).
*East Midlands - this includes the former Midland Mainline network, and has taken over Central's services on the Midland Main Line and East of Nottingham, plus the Crewe to Derby via Stoke-on-Trent services. This is operated by East Midlands Trains, a new rail franchise owned by Stagecoach Group.
*Cross-Country - this encompasses most of the former Virgin Cross-Country network, and is slightly expanded from its former size by taking over the Nottingham to Cardiff, the Birmingham to Stansted "Citylink" services, and the Birmingham to Nottingham service. From 11th November 2007 Cross-Country Services are operated by Arriva rather than Virgin Trains.

The future of the problematic Liverpool to Norwich service now appears relatively secure: previous suggestions to split the service into two separate services between Liverpool and Nottingham, and Nottingham and Norwich, have been abandoned, [cite web |title=‘Nottingham split’ scrapped, but hourly Norwich – Liverpool service under threat|url=http://www.norfolkrailwaysociety.org.uk/news_jul-aug06.html|publisher=The Norfolk Railway Society] and the service has become part of the East Midlands franchise.

Recently Central Trains Class 150 units in the Centro area, which covered the West Midlands, have been repainted in a livery similar to the Central Trains services. However, it is not known if the Class 323s will also be painted in the same livery.

It was announced on 21 June 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including Snow Hill lines), would be run under a new franchise operated by London Midland [cite web|url=http://www.londonmidland.com/doc/news.html|title=London Midland News Page|publisher=London Midland] whose parent company is Govia.

It was announced on 22 June 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including local services in the East Midlands), would be run under a new franchise operated by East Midlands Trains [cite web|url=http://www.stagecoachgroup.com/scg/media/press/pr2007/2007-06-22/|title=Stagecoach Group welcomes East Midlands rail franchise win|publisher=Stagecoach Group] [cite web|url=http://www.stagecoachgroup.com/scg/media/press/pr2007/2007-08-13/|title=Stagecoach unveils new train company|publisher=Stagecoach Group] whose parent company is Stagecoach Group.

It was announced on 10 July 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including Cardiff - Nottingham, Birmingham - Stansted Airport and Hereford - Nottingham), would be run under a new franchise operated by CrossCountry [cite web|url=http://www.arriva.co.uk/arriva/en/media_centre/press_releases/2007/2007-07-10//|title=Arriva welcomes new CrossCountry rail franchise award|publisher=Arriva] whose parent company is Arriva.

This came into action on 11 November 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/ National Express Group website]
* [http://www.michaelpead.co.uk/writing/central_trains.shtml A Year at Central Trains (diary)]
* [http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/sectionhomepage/dft_railways_page.hcsp/ Department For Transport Railways page]
s-ttl|rows=3|title=Operator of Central franchise
years=1997 - 2007
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