Well, the new Transpennine Express company owned jointly by Firstgroup and Keolis took over the Cleethorpes-Sheffield-Manchester Airport route from Arriva on Sunday 1 Feb with very little comment. OK it is still the same trains, timetable and staff as on 31 January, if this was in London it would be a big political occassion.

Transpennine Express promise to change the face of Intercity rail travel in the north of England, with better customer service, delay recovery and new trains.

Anyone spotted the difference yet?

have the trains changed?? or have they kept the old rubbish?

The trains look the same from the outside - i'm not sure if they have bought some of the Arriva Trans-Penine trains or not but the ones I have been on are exactly the same colour scheme etc.

Inside they now have those annoying white paper "throws" where you rest your head.

Other than that they seem to be pretty much the same. Not sure about their long term plans.

Yes, they have inherited the same trains, just rebranded them, and as you point out, added antimacassars to Standard class seats as well as First class.

The trains they have inherited are the class 158 'express' units on the Sheffield and Leeds routes (from Arriva), and the class 175 'Coradia' units on the Barrow in Furness/Windermere route (from First Northwestern).

All those trains will be replace by brand new, 3 carriage, class 185 'Desiro' trains next year.

There will be an overhaul to the timetable this December.

Brief details are on their website www.tpexpress.co.uk