London Midland

For the former "Big Four" Railway company, see London, Midland and Scottish Railway. For the former British Railways region, see London Midland Region (British Railways).

London Midland

Overview
Franchise(s)	West Midlands 11 November 2007 - 19 September 2015
Main region(s)	West Midlands
Other region(s)	North West, London, East of England, East Midlands
Stations called at	146
Parent company	Govia (Go-Ahead/Keolis)
Reporting mark	LM
Technical
Length	867.4
Other
Website	www.londonmidland.com
Route map

A map of the London Midland Network

London Midland Express route map

London Midland City route map

London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Govia operating the West Midlands franchise.

London Midland operates services on the West Coast Main Line from London Euston previously run by Silverlink and in the West Midlands previously run by Central Trains.

Services

London Midland's services are divided between two sub-brands, London Midland Express and London Midland City.

London Midland Express

This sub-brand is used primarily for semi-fast services on the West Coast Main Line. The main service pattern is as follows:

• Birmingham New Street – Liverpool Lime Street.

Every half-hour, calling at either Smethwick Galton Bridge or Coseley (alternating to give each an hourly express service), Wolverhampton, Penkridge (hourly service), Stafford, Crewe, Winsford (hourly/two hourly service), Hartford, (hourly service, although frequency improves in the morning and evening peak), Runcorn, and Liverpool South Parkway. Journey times vary between approx. 1½ hours and 1¾ hours.

• London Euston - Birmingham New Street.

Every 20 minutes to Birmingham New Street, calling at Watford Junction (hourly), Hemel Hempstead (hourly), Berkhamsted (hourly), Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Central,Wolverton, Northampton, Long Buckby, Rugby, Coventry, Canley, Tile Hill, Berkswell, Birmingham International and Marston Green. Journey times are about an hour longer than Virgin Trains' service, which calls only at the main stations.

• London Euston - Milton Keynes Central.

Every 20 minutes to Tring, calling at Harrow & Wealdstone, Bushey, Watford Junction, Kings Langley, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, and Berkhamsted, with hourly extensions to Milton Keynes calling at Watford Junction, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard, then Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central. Southern Trains operates a similar service on part of this route, with an hourly service between Harrow & Wealdstone and Milton Keynes, from East Croydon via Olympia. At peak times, London Midland has introduced a "Watford Shuttle" service, calling at Harrow & Wealdstone and Bushey.

• London Euston - Crewe.

Hourly, off-peak, calling at Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central, Northampton, Rugby, Nuneaton, Polesworth (served only by one northbound Parliamentary train service per day), Atherstone, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Rugeley Trent Valley, Stafford, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove, and Alsager.

This semi-fast service replaced the old Virgin Trains service from December 2008. This coincided with the number of Virgin Trains off-peak services calling at stations in the Trent Valley (and other parts of the WCML) being reduced.

This move was controversial, as it meant some towns losing their fast services to the capital. However, it also enabled some smaller towns, such as Stone, to have their rail service reinstated or improved. A handful of Virgin Trains services continue to call at Trent Valley stations in peak hours only.

The London Midland Express brand is also used for two branches off the WCML:

• The Marston Vale Line (from Bletchley to Bedford). Hourly, all stations.
• The St Albans Branch Line (from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey). Every 45 minutes, all stations.

It is a requirement of the franchise that Transport for London's Oyster Cards be valid for trains between London and Watford Junction. In the past, TfL has expressed interest in taking over the St Albans branch, and installing Oyster Card readers on the stations along it; however, this route was included within the London Midland franchise.

London Midland City

Bletchley

Parry People Mover Class 139 at Stourbridge Junction

This sub-brand is used for local and commuter services around the Birmingham / Coventry area, sponsored by Centro/ Network West Midlands, that were previously run by Central Trains. These services are:

• Birmingham New Street – Northampton. Hourly. Semi-fast. Run together with the hourly Birmingham to London service.
• Birmingham New Street – Wolverhampton. Half-hourly, all stops.
• Lichfield – Birmingham New Street - Redditch (the Cross-City Line). Every ten minutes between Longbridge and Four Oaks, all stops, with half-hourly extensions to the termini.
• Birmingham New Street - Walsall - Rugeley (the Chase Line). Every 15 minutes, with hourly extensions to Rugeley [half-hourly in peak hours].
• Birmingham New Street – Shrewsbury. Hourly, all stops beyond Wolverhampton, complemented by Arriva Trains Wales' fast services to give a twice-hourly service at main stations.
• Birmingham New Street – Hereford via Bromsgrove. Hourly off-peak, half-hourly peak. Semi-fast.
• Worcester - Birmingham Snow Hill – Leamington Spa / Stratford-upon-Avon (the Snow Hill Lines). Every ten minutes between Stourbridge Junction and Birmingham Moor Street, various extensions and patterns.
• Stourbridge Junction – Stourbridge Town (the Stourbridge Branch Line). Every ten minutes.
• Coventry – Nuneaton. Hourly.

Smaller stations

London Midland operate several "limited stop" stations, where only a handful of trains a day call.

These include:

• Hartlebury; six trains a day Monday-Saturday, peak only, no Sunday service.
• Bordesley, one train per week on a Saturday (a parliamentary train), plus football specials.
• Polesworth; one train per day (a parliamentary train).

London Midland also operate stations where it operates no services. These include:

• Wilnecote
• Coleshill Parkway
• Water Orton

Former services

Class 170 Turbostar 170511 at Gloucester. The London Midland service to Gloucester was withdrawn in December 2009.

In December 2008 London Midland discontinued the direct service between Walsall and Wolverhampton. Traffic on the route was low, but growing, and there was a campaign to keep the service. The service was a priced option with the new West Midlands franchise, but the Department for Transport decided not to provide funding from December 2008, and as a result the service ceased. London Midland advised that passengers should use Travel West Midlands buses instead. The rolling stock was re-allocated to the new Worcester - Gloucester service.

In December 2008 a two hourly Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester to improve transport links between the two areas as well as to provide an increased service at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. This service was withdrawn in December 2009 because of low passenger use.

Proposed services

In October 2010 London Midland applied to the Office of Rail Regulation to run a new hourly Birmingham to Preston service from 2012 by diverting every other Birmingham to Liverpool train. The Euston to Crewe service would then be extended to Liverpool to maintain a half-hourly service between Crewe and Liverpool. This was rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation. London Midland also sought to run additional evening and Sunday trains between Euston and Crewe, to satisfy what the company says is unmet demand. From April 2012 London Midland commenced operating an hourly Euston to Crewe service on Sundays.

From December 2012 the Euston - Crewe services will avoid Northampton which combined with the Class 350 Desiro stock being able to operate at 110 mph will cut up to 30 minutes from the journey time.

Performance

The company has stated that it experienced many breakdowns due to the outdated rolling stock it inherited and which it has now replaced. The services to London have received more attention, although the neglect of the local Midland services outside of Birmingham has led to the company having some of the lowest performance rates of any British rail franchise. The company has seen marked improvements in customer satisfaction rates during 2010, with train frequency, reliability and value all rising by 11% in the customers' eyes. The state of onboard toilet facilities, however, showed no marked improvement.

According to the most recent performance figures for London Midland, punctuality fell in the fourth quarter of 2010/11. The ORR revealed that the Public Performance Measure for this quarter was 88.4% (down 1.9 percentage points on the same quarter last year). The MAA (moving annual average) up to 31 March 2011 was 89.7%.

In the Summer and Autumn of 2012 many services suffered cancellations due to a shortage of train operating staff.

Rolling stock

London Midland retained seven Class 321s for both the Abbey Flyer Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey branch and peak-hour services

London inherited a fleet of Class 150, Class 153, Class 170, Class 321, Class 323 and Class 350/1s from Central Trains and Silverlink.

A franchise commitment was to replace all of the Class 150s and Class 321s.

London Midland ordered two Class 139 Parry People Movers, 12 two-carriage and 15 three-carriage Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-carriage Class 350/2 Desiros.

All bar three Class 150s were cascaded to First Great Western (12 x 2 carriage, 2 x 3 carriage) and Northern Rail (18 x 2 carriages) and the Class 321s to First Capital Connect (13) and National Express East Anglia (17). The Class 153, Class 170 and Class 323s have all been refurbished.

The first of the Class 350/2 Desiros arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Siemens Northampton depot. By July 2009 they were all in service.

London Midland were to lose all of its Class 321s, but a change of plan saw it retain seven for use both on the Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey branch line and on peak-hour express services between Northampton and London Euston.

The two Class 139 railcars were due to enter service on the Stourbridge line with the start of the new timetable on 15 December 2008. However, problems in testing caused a delay in their introduction, with a replacement bus covering the route following the reallocation of the Class 153 originally used. The two railcars finally entered full passenger service in June 2009.

London Midland were to lose all of its Class 150s, but a change in plan saw it retain three Class 150 vehicles as additional capacity, following a statement from the Department for Transport on 10 August 2011. However, London Midland lost two Class 153s to First Great Western as a result. The other Class 150s were transferred to First Great Western and Northern Rail.

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Cars per set	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
				mph	km/h
Class 139 Parry People Mover		LPG multiple unit	1	40	64	2	Stourbridge Town Branch Line	2008
Class 150/1 Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	2	75	121	3	Marston Vale Line Birmingham – Hereford	1984–1987
Class 153 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	1	75	121	7	Marston Vale Line Coventry – Nuneaton Peak only: Snow Hill Lines Birmingham – Rugeley Birmingham – Shrewsbury	1987–1988 Converted 1991–1992
Class 170/5 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	2	100	161	17	Birmingham – Hereford Birmingham – Shrewsbury Birmingham – Rugeley	1999–2000
Class 170/6 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	3	100	161	6	Birmingham – Hereford Birmingham – Shrewsbury Birmingham – Rugeley Peak only: Snow Hill Lines	1999–2000
Class 172/2 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	2	100	161	12	Snow Hill Lines	2011
Class 172/3 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	3	100	161	15	Snow Hill Lines	2011
Class 321		electric multiple unit	4	100	161	7	Abbey Line Peak only: London – Tring/Milton Keynes London – Northampton	1989–1990
Class 323		electric multiple unit	3	90	145	26	Redditch – Lichfield Trent Valley Wolverhampton – Walsall via Birmingham Birmingham – Coventry	1992–1993
Class 350/1 Desiro		electric multiple unit	4	110	177	30	London – Birmingham Birmingham – Liverpool London – Tring/Milton Keynes London – Crewe London – Northampton Northampton – Birmingham	2004–2005
Class 350/2 Desiro		electric multiple unit	4	100	161	37	London – Birmingham Birmingham – Liverpool London – Tring/Milton Keynes London – Crewe London – Northampton Northampton – Birmingham	2008–2009

London Midland replaced the area's older trains, including the Class 150s that operated the Snow Hill and Bedford – Bletchley lines

Future fleet

In 2011 London Midland announced that it would be procuring a further 18 four-carriage Class 350 Desiros, eight for itself and ten for sub-lease to First TransPennine Express.

In February 2012 it was announced that 20 Class 350 Desiros had been ordered by London Midland. Ten Class 350/3s will enter service with London Midland while ten Class 350/4s will enter service with First TransPennine Express. The Class 350/4s were ordered by London Midland in order to get around European Union crashworthiness laws that would have prevented First TransPennine Express from ordering Class 350s. It is planned that they will be replaced on the TransPennine Express franchise in about 2018 and transfer to the West Midlands franchise.

Class	Type	Cars per set	Number	Introduced
Class 350/3 Desiro	electric multiple unit	4	10	2013

Depots

London Midland's diesel fleet is maintained at Tyseley depot, the Class 323s at Soho depot in Birmingham and the Class 321 and 350s by Siemens at Kings Heath depot in Northampton.

• 
  Class 139
• 
  Class 172
• 
  Class 350

See also

• Central Trains
• Central Citylink
• Silverlink

External links

• London Midland official website