First TransPennine Express: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 20:42, 13 August 2007
| File:First TransPennine Express logo.gif | |
| File:185108 3-8-06 - Doncaster.JPG | |
| Franchise(s) | TransPennine Express February 2004 – January 2012 |
|---|---|
| Main regions(s) | Pennines,North-East, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria |
| Other regions(s) | Glasgow, Edinburgh- December 2007 |
| Fleet size | 56 (increasing to 60) |
| Stations called at | 67 (30 operated) |
| Parent company | First Group/Keolis |
| Other | |
| Website | www.tpexpress.co.uk |
TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates regular regional services in the north of England, including services linking the west and east coasts of England across the Pennines.
The original service and brand name were launched in late 1998 by Northern Spirit, and later transferred to its successor, Arriva Trains Northern. On 1 February 2004, the service became a separate franchise, also incorporating the long distance routes of First North Western. The franchise will run for eight years and is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis, with an optional extension of five years.
TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running 24 hours a day, including through New Years Eve night. For example, trains run between York and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week.
Routes
TransPennine Express services are split into three routes:
North TransPennine
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 Manchester to Liverpool sector is supplemented by Central Trains hourly service from Norwich to Liverpool, thus giving half hourly fast services between Manchester and Liverpool. Similarly, the service between Leeds and Newcastle is boosted by an hourly Virgin Trains service; York to Newcastle is also supplemented by GNER’s services. It can be faster for passengers wishing to travel to Durham or Newcastle to change at York as both Virgin and GNER run faster trains (125mph vs 100mph) but serve fewer stations.
South TransPennine
An hourly service operates from Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Mancester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Doncaster and Scunthorpe. The Manchester to Sheffield sector is supplemented by Central Trains hourly Liverpool to Norwich service, thus giving a half hourly fast service frequency between Manchester and Sheffield.
TransPennine North West
An hourly service operates between Manchester Airport and Lancaster, then continuing every two hours alternating between Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere. Combining with Northern Rail’s twice-hourly service, this gives at least three trains per hour between Manchester Piccadilly and Preston. TransPennine Express also took over the service between Blackpool and Manchester in 2006. From December 2007, TPE will operate the Manchester Piccadilly to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh services, currently operated by Virgin Trains, which run two-hourly between Manchester Piccadilly, Preston, Lancaster, and Oxenholme.
Rolling Stock
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 Trans Northern) and Class 175 (inherited from First North Western).
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, to provide 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 first eight units were sent over in First’s old livery, and were converted to the new one (see the photograph at the beginning of this article) using vinyl wraps.
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 75mph (120km/h) east of Leeds. To solve this problem and create extra capacity across their network TransPennine Express has started to take on a nine-strong fleet of lighter Class 170 Turbostar units formerly used by South West Trains (SWT) on their Waterloo–Salisbury–Exeter services. In return SWT has received six surplus Class 158 units from TransPennine Express which will be upgraded to the same standard as SWT's Class 159 units. The two-car Class 170 Turbostars are still awaiting refurbishment to the same standard as the new Class 185 units and are being used solely on Manchester-Hull services.
Current fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 185 Pennine | File:185108 3-8-06 - Doncaster.JPG | Diesel Multiple Unit | 100 | 160 | 51 | All TransPennine routes | |
| Class 170 Turbostar | 
|
Diesel Multiple Unit | 100 | 160 | 5 | Manchester Piccadilly - Hull route | 2000 |
Past Fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Number | Built | Withdrawn | Notes |
| Class 175 Coradia | 
|
diesel multiple unit | 1999 - 2001 | [2006] | Moved to Arriva Trains Wales | |
| Class 158 Express Sprinter | 
|
diesel multiple unit | 1989 - 1992 | 2006 - 2007 | Moved to Central Trains, First Great Western, South West Trains and Northern Rail |
Future services
On 31 October 2006, it was announced that from December 2007, subject to contract, Transpennine Express will operate frequent services between Manchester Airport and Glasgow/Edinburgh, replacing the current Manchester Piccadilly-Scotland service provided by Virgin Cross Country.[citation needed]
It was announced that the Class 185s would be used to run the services, replacing the faster Class 220s and 221s currently used by Virgin, although there is currently some debate over whether they will have enough units to cover a frequent service to Scotland, and whether the 100mph (160 km/h) units can be effectively timetabled to fit in with Virgin West Coast's 125mph (200km/h) Class 390-operated service on the predominantly double track WCML north of Preston.[who?] The seating capacity, which will also be less has also been called into question.
In 2005, the company considered introducing a couple of High Speed Trains on the Manchester Piccadilly–Newcastle routes, to cope with high passenger numbers during the Royal Ascot at York event, but this was deemed to be too expensive.[citation needed]
A major uncertainty at the moment is if the 3-car 185 fleet will be able to cope with the growth in passenger numbers in the future. The addition of a fourth coach into some of the new trains is a possibility and has been mentioned regularly by many sources, but the government are still assessing TransPennine Express's long-term viability before any more money is committed to the franchise.[citation needed]
Name Change
From 10 December 2004, TransPennine Express changed its name to First TransPennine Express. However from November 2006 this was changed back to TransPennine Express, due to complaints from Keolis.[citation needed]
External links
