First TransPennine Express

First TransPennine Express

Franchise(s):	TransPennine February 2004 – April 2012(Extended to between April 2014 - March 2015)
Main regions(s):	North West England, North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotland
Fleet size:	60
Stations called at:	67
Stations operated:	30
Passenger km 2007/8:	1069.5 million
Route km operated:	1250.5
National Rail abbreviation:	TP
Parent company:	First Group 55% Keolis 45%
Web site:	www.tpexpress.co.uk

First TransPennine Express ^[1] is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group (55%) and Keolis (45%). It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines. The franchise runs from 2004 to 2012 with an optional extension which has been granted to between April 2014 and March 2015.

The original service and brand name TransPennine Express was launched in late 1998 by Northern Spirit, and maintained by its successor, Arriva Trains Northern. On 1 February 2004, the service became a separate franchise, also incorporating the Manchester Airport to Cumbria and Lakes Line (Oxenholme to Windermere) routes from First North Western but minus the Bradford to Blackpool service. TransPennine Express later took over the Manchester Airport to Blackpool service.

First TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. For example, trains run between York, Leeds and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week.

Routes

North TransPennine

A Class 185 DMU No. 185141 at York.

Previous logo

The core route between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds sees four trains per hour between the two cities. This is made up of an hourly Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough service, an hourly Manchester Airport to Newcastle service, an hourly Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough service and an hourly Manchester Piccadilly to Hull service. The Huddersfield to Leeds section is the busiest section on any TransPennine Express service.

The Manchester to Liverpool section is supplemented by East Midlands Trains' hourly service from Norwich and a Northern Rail hourly Liverpool to Manchester Airport express service (which runs via Newton-le-Willows rather than Warrington), thus giving three fast services between Manchester and Liverpool per hour. Similarly, the service between Leeds and Newcastle is boosted by an hourly CrossCountry service; York to Newcastle is also supplemented by East Coast and CrossCountry services.

Under the previous franchise, Newcastle services used to continue to Sunderland. When First and Keolis first took over the service they extended the Manchester to Hull service to Bridlington, a decision which has since been reversed.

North TransPennine

2:50 Newcastle 2:36 Chester-le-Street 2:30 Durham 2:13 Darlington 2:38 Middlesbrough 2:28 Thornaby 2:14 Yarm 1:58 Northallerton 1:49 Thirsk 2:18 Scarborough 2:07 Seamer 1:50 Malton 1:23 York 1:08 Garforth 1:54 Hull 1:36 Brough 1:18 Selby 1:09 South Mlford 0:57 Leeds 0:40 Dewsbury 0:30 Huddersfield 0:13 Stalybridge 0:00 Manchester Piccadilly 0:17 Manchester Airport 0:02 Manchester Oxford Road 0:08 Irlam (Limited Service) 0:16 Birchwood 0:21 Warrington Central 0:30 Widnes (Limited Service) 0:38 Hunts Cross (Limited Service) 0:39 Liverpool South Parkway 0:50 Liverpool Lime Street Times shown are best times from Manchester Piccadilly

• Newcastle branch
• Newcastle
• Chester-le-Street
• Durham
• Darlington

• Middlesbrough branch
• Middlesbrough
• Thornaby
• Yarm

• Northallerton
• Thirsk

• Scarborough branch
• Scarborough
• Seamer
• Malton

• York

• Hull branch
• Hull
• Brough
• Selby

• Garforth
• Leeds
• Dewsbury
• Huddersfield
• Stalybridge
• Manchester Piccadilly

• Manchester Airport branch
• Manchester Airport

• Manchester Oxford Road
• Birchwood
• Warrington Central
• Liverpool South Parkway
• Liverpool Lime Street

South TransPennine

A Class 185 DMU No. 185132 at Doncaster.

An hourly service operates from Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Doncaster and Scunthorpe. The Manchester to Sheffield sector is supplemented by East Midlands Trains hourly Liverpool to Norwich service, thus giving a half-hourly service frequency of fast trains between Manchester and Sheffield.

South TransPennine Showing principal stations only
3:02 Cleethorpes 2:49 Grimsby Town 2:27 Barnetby 2:12 Scunthorpe 1:45 Doncaster 1:21 Meadowhall 1:13 Sheffield 0:33 Stockport 0:14 Manchester Piccadilly 0:00 Manchester Airport

• Cleethorpes
• Grimsby Town
• Barnetby
• Scunthorpe
• Doncaster
• Meadowhall
• Sheffield
• Dore
• Chinley
• Stockport
• Manchester Piccadilly
• Mauldeth Road
• Burnage
• East Didsbury
• Gatley
• Heald Green
• Manchester Airport

Transpennine North West

TransPennine North West is one of the three rail services provided by First TransPennine Express, running in Northern England. It runs from Manchester Airport to Windermere, Kendal and Barrow-in-Furness, via Lancaster, Preston, Bolton and Manchester Piccadilly. It uses sections of the Styal Line, Manchester to Preston Line, West Coast Main Line, Furness Line and Windermere Branch Line. This route was formerly operated by First North Western.

From December 2007, this part of the First TransPennine Express network expanded to serve Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, and the route to Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley. First TransPennine Express took over these services from Virgin West Coast, which had been operating them on a temporary basis following the takeover of the Cross Country franchise by CrossCountry. Carstairs is also served by one terminating train from Edinburgh on Monday to Thursday evenings only, which connects with a Virgin Trains service from Glasgow to Crewe.

TransPennine North West

3:44 Edinburgh 3:37 Haymarket 3:44 Glasgow Central ( St Enoch) 3:26 Motherwell 3:06 Carstairs No TPX trains call 2:44 Lockerbie 2:13 Carlisle 1:55 Penrith 2:22 Windermere 2:16 Staveley Request stop 2:11 Burneside Request stop 2:08 Kendal 1:32 Oxenholme 2:23 Barrow-in-Furness 2:13 Roose Limited service 2:07 Dalton 1:58 Ulverston 1:50 Cark Limited service 1:46 Kents Bank Limited service 1:42 Grange-over-Sands 1:37 Arnside 1:33 Silverdale Limited service 1:26 Carnforth 1:17 Lancaster 1:49 Blackpool North 1:43 Layton 1:39 Poulton-le-Fylde 1:28 Kirkham and Wesham 1:00 Preston 1:11 Leyland Limited service/Best Time on TPX TBA Buckshaw Village from 17 Oct 2011 0:50 Chorley 0:59 Adlington Limited service 0:56 Blackrod Limited service 0:53 Horwich Parkway 0:49 Lostock Limited service 0:38 Bolton 0:27 Salford Crescent 0:23 Deansgate ( Deansgate-Castlefield) Limited service 0:20 Manchester Oxford Road 0:15 Manchester Piccadilly 0:04 Heald Green 0:00 Manchester Airport

• Edinburgh Branch
• Edinburgh
• Haymarket

• Glasgow Branch
• Glasgow Central
• Motherwell
• Carstairs

• Lockerbie
• Carlisle
• Penrith
• Windermere branch
• Windermere
• Staveley
• Burnside
• Kendal
• Oxenholme Lake District

• Barrow-in-Furness branch
• Barrow-in-Furness
• Roose
• Dalton
• Ulverston
• Cark and Cartmel
• Kents Bank
• Grange-over-Sands
• Arnside
• Silverdale
• Carnforth

• Lancaster

• Blackpool branch
• Blackpool North
• Layton
• Poulton-le-Fylde
• Kirkham and Wesham

• Preston
• Chorley
• Bolton
• Salford Crescent
• Deansgate
• Manchester Oxford Road
• Manchester Piccadilly
• Manchester Airport

Rolling stock

The First Class interior of Class 185 DMFO vehicle

The Standard Class interior of Class 185 MSO vehicle

The franchise is operated with Class 185 and Class 170 diesel multiple units. When first created, the franchise operated a mixed fleet of Class 158 (inherited from Arriva Trains Northern) and Class 175 (originally from First North Western, but sub-leased from Arriva Trains Wales).

In March 2006 new three-car Class 185 units, constructed in Germany by Siemens, began to enter service and took over most services. A new depot at Ardwick, about a mile east of Manchester Piccadilly, was built as the base for the Class 185 fleet. A smaller depot, for stabling and lighter maintenance east of the Pennines, has been built at York and another at Cleethorpes. The Class 185 units were delivered in the First Group 'neon-style' livery. The "i" in the logo of Keolis is used as the 'i' in the TransPennine Express logo in addition to the FirstGroup 'flying f' logo. The first eight units were sent over in First's old livery, and converted to the new one (see the photograph at the beginning of this article) using vinyl wraps. The arrival of the Class 185 allowed the Class 175 units to be returned to Arriva Trains Wales.

The Class 185 trains proved popular with off-peak travellers, although these satisfaction levels decrease for passengers undertaking long-distance journeys and at peak-times.^[2]

Despite the 185s being bigger than two-car 158s, 185s frequently leave passengers behind due to severe overcrowding at peak times.^[3] Projected passenger numbers will likely mean 100–125 mph (160–201 km/h) 8-car units are needed by 2014.^[4]

It was planned to operate all services with the new Class 185 units. However, weight restrictions on the Hull-Leeds line mean the Class 185 units are limited to 65–75 mph (105–121 km/h) east of Micklefield. To solve this problem and create extra capacity across its network, First TransPennine Express has started to take on a nine-strong fleet of lighter Class 170 Turbostar units, 8 of which were formerly used by South West Trains (SWT) on its Waterloo–Salisbury–Exeter services. In return SWT has received eleven surplus Class 158 units from TransPennine Express which will be upgraded to the same standard as SWT's Class 159 units. TransPennine Express has also since received one additional 170 (170309) formerly used by Central Trains, and numbered 170399 whilst there.

The two-car Class 170 Turbostars are being used on Manchester-Hull and also on a small number of Manchester Airport - Sheffield/Cleethorpes services to allow the release of 185s for Anglo-Scottish services. On Sundays they work some services to York. However, only Hull-, Sheffield- and Manchester-Piccadilly-based train crews are trained to work class 170 stock, limiting their appearance on other routes. Since introduction with TransPennine Express, they have been refurbished to include CCTV, plug sockets at table seats, replacement seat covers and an accessible toilet. They have also had 8 first-class seats removed and 13 standard-class seats inserted in their place.

The class 170s are maintained at Crofton depot, east of Wakefield, but may visit Ardwick on occasion for wheel turning, fuelling, or emptying of toilet waste tanks. However, none of the Ardwick depot drivers is trained to move them, and thus a TPE driver has to move them around the depot complex.^{[citation needed]}

Whilst the class 170s initially suffered poor reliability, concerted efforts by maintenance staff at FTPE have raised their miles-per-casualty figures close to the levels recorded for the class 185 fleet.

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 170 Turbostar		Diesel Multiple Unit	100	160	9	Manchester Piccadilly - Hull route Manchester Airport - Cleethorpes route	1998-2005
Class 185 Pennine Desiro		Diesel Multiple Unit	100	160	51	All TransPennine routes	2005-2006

Past fleet

Class	Image	Type	Built	Withdrawn	Notes	Number
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	1989–1992	2006–2007	Moved to Central Trains, Northern Rail, First Great Western, and South West Trains	Initially 28 + an additional 2 sub-leased from First North Western. Later 28 + an additional 4 sub-leased from Central Trains. 2 units also briefly sub-leased from First Scotrail
Class 175 Coradia		diesel multiple unit	1999–2001	2007	Were subleased from Arriva Trains Wales. After the introduction of the Class 185, they returned to Arriva Trains Wales and are no longer subleased	27 shared between TransPennine Express and Arriva Trains Wales

Future fleet

TransPennine Express had wished to increase its fleet capacity by adding an extra carriage to some or all of its Class 185 units. However, on 22 December 2008 the Department for Transport announced an invitation to tender for 200 new carriages to form diesel multiple units, some of them for TransPennine Express, to Bombardier Transportation, CAF, CSR, and Hyundai Rotem, with Siemens not included.^[5] The units were intended to enter service by 2012.^[6] The invitation to tender followed the issuing of a Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for the supply of between 200 and 250 new DMU vehicles with an option for a further 100. The notice specified that parties expressing an interest must be able to design and manufacture DMUs which are 23 metres (75 ft) in length, capable of a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), formed of 2, 3, and/or 4 cars, capable of operation in multiple, and gangwayed throughout, both within units and units in multiple.^[7]

On 23 July 2009, the DfT announced major changes to electrification policy, which meant that the order for new DMU vehicles would be shelved.^[8] Following the planned electrification of the Manchester to Liverpool line, services between Manchester and Scotland will instead be operated by a new build of four-car electric multiple units which are at least 110mph capable.^[9] This will enable the diesel trains currently used on the Manchester to Scotland services to be transferred to other TransPennine Express services.^[10] The Manchester Airport to Blackpool route will also be electrified, allowing further diesel carriages to be cascaded on to other TransPennine Express services. However, this will be after the end of the current TransPennine Express franchise.

Class	Type	Cars per set	Number	Introduced	Planned routes
Class 350 Desiro	electric multiple unit	4	10	2013	Manchester Airport to Scotland via Wigan[11]

Performance

Figures released by the ORR for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2010/11 were up on last year at 93.0% (PPM) and also up slightly for MAA at 91.1%.^[12] These figures are above the sector level for this quarter.

References

1. ^ FTPE's website
2. ^ "The Pennine Class 185 experience - What do passengers think?" (PDF). Passenger Focus. May 2007. http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/news-and-publications/document-search/document.asp?dsid=1013. Retrieved 10 June 2008. "More than 90% of passengers said they are satisfied with the key measures – getting a seat, the ease of getting on and off the train and cleanliness of the train interior. ... However, the research also shows that passengers satisfaction with comfort decreases as the journey time increases." 
3. ^ Emma Davison (31 October 2008). "Anyone for a game of train sardines?". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2008/10/31/anyone-for-a-game-of-train-sardines-86081-22156765/. 
4. ^ "Heavy Rail White Paper". Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority. http://www.gmpta.gov.uk/uploads/agendas/2/92/Reports/Item%2007.%20Heavy%20Rail%20White%20Paper%20&%20HLOS.pdf. 
5. ^ "TPE faces axe on longer 185s". Rail (Peterborough) (607): p. 8. 17 December 2008. 
6. ^ "Invitation to tender issued for 200 new diesel train carriages". Department for Transport. 23 December 2008. http://www.govtoday.co.uk/index.php/Rail/invitation-to-tender-issued-for-200-new-diesel-train-carriages.html. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 
7. ^ "2008/S 236-313671 Contract Notice". Official Journal of the European Union. 4 December 2008. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:313671-2008:TEXT:EN:HTML. Retrieved 22 December 2008. 
8. ^ Robert Wright (23 July 2009). "Electric trains to cut UK travel times". Financial Times (London). http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15c4a5c2-76fd-11de-b23c-00144feabdc0.html. 
9. ^ http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/rus%20documents/route%20utilisation%20strategies/west%20coast%20main%20line/westcoastmainlinerus.pdf
10. ^ "Britain's Transport Infrastructure: Rail Electrification". Department for Transport. July 2009. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/rail-electrification.pdf. 
11. ^ http://www.londonmidland.com/news/latest-news/new-rolling-stock-for-london-midland-and-for-first-transpennine-express/
12. ^ "National Rail Trends Chapter 2". ORR. http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/nrt-yearbook-2010-11.pdf. 

External links

• First TransPennine Express

Preceded by Arriva Trains Northern Regional Railways North East franchise	Operator of TransPennine franchise 2004 - present	Incumbent
Preceded by First North Western North West Regional Railways franchise