Goodbye East Midlands Trains. Hello Emr

[spilldig 188]

On 16/08/2019 at 14:18, Andy C said:

The last day of operation for East Midlands Trains, a Stagecoach rail company, is upon us - Saturday 17th August.

 

From Sunday 18th August the new franchise starts, this will be a company known as East Midlands Railway - or EMR. It is being operated by Abellio, the international business arm of the Dutch State railway company Nederlands Spoorwegen. Abellio also run Scotrail, Greater Anglia, West Midlands and Merseyrail trains and also operate buses in the UK. More about them here: https://www.abellio.com/uk

 

EMR will start out running the same trains, timetables, on board service and fares as East Midlands Trains and with the same staff that are to transfer across.

 

The East Midlands franchise has two routes serving Sheffield, the mainline service to London St Pancras and the Regional Express service between Liverpool and Norwich via Nottingham. The Department for Transport has proposed that the Liverpool-Nottingham section is to be removed from the route at some point and run Derby-Norwich instead; with a different operator - most likely either Transpennine Express or Northern - take over Liverpool-Nottingham via Sheffield.

 

A little bit of the plans for the future in this new franchise can be found at http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-midlands-rail-franchise/

 

EMR's website goes live on Sunday at https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/

It does rather make me wonder if Transpenine Express are fit to run trains. There have been instances where the Airport train has been only two coaches long and upon arriving at a station desperate people with a flight to catch have been unable to cram on. One instance we have had is that to avoid issues we booked first class seats and still had to stand because people crammed in to both 1st and 2nd class completely filling the train. No one could move including the gaurd who just managed to jump on and then stayed where he was because and I quote "He couldn't move ". 

Another issue we overheard was a gaurd getting irate with people for leaving suicases in the aisle. Pointing out that this is an airport train without any more luggage space than an ordinary train fell on deaf ears. We now drive there and leave the car at The Clayton hotel.

[RollingJ 2,030]

3 minutes ago, spilldig said:

It does rather make me wonder if Transpenine Express are fit to run trains. There have been instances where the Airport train has been only two coaches long and upon arriving at a station desperate people with a flight to catch have been unable to cram on. One instance we have had is that to avoid issues we booked first class seats and still had to stand because people crammed in to both 1st and 2nd class completely filling the train. No one could move including the gaurd who just managed to jump on and then stayed where he was because and I quote "He couldn't move ". 

Another issue we overheard was a gaurd getting irate with people for leaving suicases in the aisle. Pointing out that this is an airport train without any more luggage space than an ordinary train fell on deaf ears. We now drive there and leave the car at The Clayton hotel.

What has TPE got to do with East Midlands Railway?  Just asking, because  (1) they are a different operator and (2) EMR don't go to Manchester Airport.

[Andy C 86]

1 hour ago, RollingJ said:

What has TPE got to do with East Midlands Railway?  Just asking, because  (1) they are a different operator and (2) EMR don't go to Manchester Airport.

because it is expected either TPE or Northern will take over the Liverpool service.

 

The Liverpool-Norwich route is to be split in half with EMR running Derby-Nottingham-Norwich and a different operator running Nottingham-Sheffield-Manchester-Liverpool.

 

This is a decision made by the Department for Transport, despite the public consultation not being in favour of the loss of the direct long distance service. (Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool will no longer have a direct train to Eastern England as a result).

Edited August 19, 2019 by Andy C

[RollingJ 2,030]

4 minutes ago, Andy C said:

because it is expected either TPE or Northern will take over the Liverpool service.

 

The Liverpool-Norwich route is to be split in half with EMR running Derby-Nottingham-Norwich and a different operator running Nottingham-Sheffield-Manchester-Liverpool.

 

This is a decision made by the Department for Transport, despite the public consultation not being in favour of the loss of the direct long distance service. (Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool will no longer have a direct train to Eastern England as a result).

I was aware of the proposed split, @Andy C, just not quite sure how @spilldig was referencing it, but now I understand.

 

I too, can't see the logic, but then that quite often is the case with Government  departments  decisions - I sometimes think they exist in a parallel universe. 🙁

[BigAl1 143]

23 hours ago, Saben said:

Foreign owned rail companies give the UK the most expensive rail fares in Europe. Do our fares subsidize continental fares !

It is nothing to do with ownership many of the fares you are referring to are set by reference to the rate of inflation as dictated by the British government through the department of transport and all the rail companies will do their best to play the system to maximise any profit - cast your mind back to after the privatisation how Virgin even though they could not change the saver fare prices simply added restrictions on the validly and thus forcing customers to pay more  or change the time when they traveled

[spilldig 188]

On 19/08/2019 at 10:55, RollingJ said:

I was aware of the proposed split, @Andy C, just not quite sure how @spilldig was referencing it, but now I understand.

 

I too, can't see the logic, but then that quite often is the case with Government  departments  decisions - I sometimes think they exist in a parallel universe. 🙁

Agreed.

 

On 19/08/2019 at 12:17, amnicoll said:

It is nothing to do with ownership many of the fares you are referring to are set by reference to the rate of inflation as dictated by the British government through the department of transport and all the rail companies will do their best to play the system to maximise any profit - cast your mind back to after the privatisation how Virgin even though they could not change the saver fare prices simply added restrictions on the validly and thus forcing customers to pay more  or change the time when they traveled

They seem to use inflation as something they have to keep up with pricewise, like they have no choice. They should be aiming to set an example by keeping behind inflation, or dare I say it, not put prices up. That would be something.

[Andy C 86]

58 minutes ago, spilldig said:

Agreed.

 

They seem to use inflation as something they have to keep up with pricewise, like they have no choice. They should be aiming to set an example by keeping behind inflation, or dare I say it, not put prices up. That would be something.

The regulated fares are set by the government with increases based on inflation. Not sure if it is still the case but train operators used to have to give the government the difference if the increase was above inflation.

 

The current principle is they move a bigger proportion of the cost of rail infrastructure from taxpayer to passenger - fares up and franchise premium payment up (or subsidy down depending on the operation).

 

There are deals such as off peak fares and advance booking deals that are within the operators gift, they are generally designed to sell otherwise empty seats.

[Top Cats Hat 10]

1 hour ago, spilldig said:

They should be aiming to set an example by keeping behind inflation, or dare I say it, not put prices up. That would be something.

That certainly would, given that they are privately owned companies answerable to their shareholders.

[Andy C 86]

What the DfT say we will benefit from... (taken from http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-midlands-rail-franchise/)

 

Abellio has successfully bid to operate the East Midlands franchise from August 2019 until 2027. They will be at the forefront of the government's commitment to deliver a cleaner, greener rail network, as well as delivering faster journey times over long-distances.

 

Other benefits include:

• new or modern, refurbished trains by the end of 2022
• a reduction in the notice period for booking Passenger Assistance at stations
• smart ticketing extended and new smart ticket vending machine kiosks at 52 stations
• compensation for delays of more than 15 minutes
• 6 existing stations converted to become zero carbon
• trialling of hydrogen fuel cell trains

CHANGES BY ROUTE:

 

Sheffield - Derby - London

 

Benefits include:

 

> from May 2020, modern diesel trains will begin to replace ageing HSTs. Timetable changes will enable faster journey times from December 2020

 

> earlier and later train service each day to East Midlands Parkway enabling better airport connectivity
earlier and later trains to and from London, with a more regular evening service between London and Sheffield

 

> brand-new 125mph trains will be introduced into service from April 2022 with:

• more reliable service
• improved comfort
• passenger information system
• free on-board Wi-Fi
• at-seat power sockets
• USB points
• air conditioning
• tables at all seats
• increased luggage space
• on-board cycle storage

Norwich - Nottingham - Liverpool

Benefits include:

 

> early in the new franchise the Liverpool - Nottingham section will transfer to another operator, which will enable the two halves of the service to better meet the needs of customers

 

> refurbished, modern trains with:

• more reliable service
• improved comfort
• passenger information system displays
• free on-board Wi-Fi
• at-seat power sockets
• USB points
• air conditioning
• tables at all seats
• increased luggage space
• limited services will continue to operate via Stamford and Loughborough

[Andy C 86]

 

And an introductory video from Abellio.. 

 

[spilldig 188]

15 hours ago, Top Cats Hat said:

That certainly would, given that they are privately owned companies answerable to their shareholders.

It would, but everyone rounding up prices to keep up with inflation causes, yes you guessed it, more inflation.

[bluecanary 13]

15 hours ago, Andy C said:

What the DfT say we will benefit from... (taken from http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-midlands-rail-franchise/)

 

Norwich - Nottingham - Liverpool

Benefits include:

 

> early in the new franchise the Liverpool - Nottingham section will transfer to another operator, which will enable the two halves of the service to better meet the needs of customers

 

 

Sorry if I'm being dense here, but exactly how will transferring the Nottingham - Liverpool part of the line to another operator help to "better meet the needs of customers".? Surely fragmenting a previously coherent service will have the opposite effect?

 

I have elderly parents and the ability to get on a train in Norwich and travel directly to Sheffield with no changes, albeit it slowly, enables them to see their grandchildren regularly. The requirement to change trains in the middle of the journey is not something that is going to benefit them in any way that I can see.