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First TransPennine Express

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108-760: First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major cities of Northern England as well as Scotland . The franchise operated all its services to and through Manchester covering three main routes. The service provided rail links for major towns and cities such as Edinburgh , Glasgow , Liverpool , Sheffield , Hull , Leeds , York , Scarborough , Middlesbrough and Newcastle . Previously, all services called or terminated at Manchester Piccadilly , but, as of May 2014,

216-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside

324-674: A 68% year-on-year increase. In 2017, Nottingham came seventh in Harper Dennis Hobbes's Top 50 British Centres, behind the West End of London , Glasgow , Birmingham , Manchester , Leeds and Liverpool . The Bridlesmith Gate area has numerous designer shops, one being the original Paul Smith boutique. There are various specialist shops and small businesses in side streets and alleys: notable streets include Poultry Walk, West End Arcade and Hurts Yard and Derby Road (the latter once known for antiques). Smaller shopping areas in

432-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by

540-579: A distance." During the Industrial Revolution , much of Nottingham's prosperity was founded on the textile industry ; in particular, the city became an internationally important centre of lace manufacture. In 1831 citizens rioted in protest against the Duke of Newcastle 's opposition to the Reform Act 1832 , setting fire to his residence on the site of Nottingham Castle. In common with

648-596: A letter from the prime minister, the Marquess of Salisbury to the mayor, dated 18 June 1897. Nottingham was extended in 1933 by adding Bilborough and Wollaton , parts of the parishes of Bestwood Park and Colwick , and a recently developed part of the Beeston Urban District . A further boundary extension was granted in 1951 when Clifton and Wilford (south of the River Trent) were incorporated into

756-541: A list of 20 Cities of Literature. The title reflects Nottingham's literary heritage, with Lord Byron , D. H. Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe having links to the city, as well as a contemporary literary community, a publishing industry and a poetry scene. The city is served by three universities: the University of Nottingham , Nottingham Trent University and the Nottingham campus of the University of Law ; it hosts

864-511: A national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017,

972-696: A national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons the railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which

1080-498: A new service running between Newcastle and Liverpool Lime Street , calling at Manchester Victoria was announced, and launched as part of the Northern Hub plan. When the franchise was re-tendered, FirstGroup and Keolis tendered separately. The franchise was awarded solely to FirstGroup, which traded as TransPennine Express . The TransPennine Express brand was launched in the early 1990s by British Rail , and maintained by

1188-764: A number of independent schools. The city's oldest educational establishment is Nottingham High School , which was founded in 1513. The city contains several notable museums including: In 2015, the National Videogame Arcade was opened in the Hockley area of the city; being "the UK's first cultural centre for videogames". It was announced in June 2018 that the arcade was soon to close and relocate to Sheffield city centre, where it reopened in November 2018 as

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1296-640: A population of 768,638. It is the largest urban area in the East Midlands and the second-largest in the Midlands. Its Functional Urban Area, the largest in the East Midlands, has a population of 919,484. The population of the Nottingham/ Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000. The metropolitan economy of Nottingham is the seventh-largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $ 50.9 billion (2014). Aside from Birmingham, it

1404-545: A result of timetable changes in May 2014, five trains per hour instead of four operated on the core route between Manchester and Leeds on the Huddersfield Line . This was made up of the following services: Most services between Manchester Airport and Newcastle ran early morning/late evenings. Under Arriva Trains Northern , Newcastle services continued to Sunderland . When First TransPennine Express first took over

1512-480: A temperature of 30 °C (86 °F) is recorded at least 1 day per year at Watnall for the period of 1991–2020, and the warmest day of the year reaches an average of 30.0 °C (86.0 °F). For the period 1991–2020 Nottingham (Watnall) recorded on average 36.9 days of air frost per year, and Sutton Bonington 42.2. The lowest recorded temperature in Nottingham (Watnall) is −13.3 °C (8.1 °F) recorded in 23 January 1963 and 13 January 1987 , whilst

1620-620: A temperature of −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) was recorded in Sutton Bonington on 24 February 1947 . The record-low maximum temperature is −6.3 °C (20.7 °F) recorded in January 1963 . For the period of 1991–2020, the coldest temperature of the year reaches an average of −5.5 °C (22.1 °F) in Nottingham (Watnall). The city centre of Nottingham is usually defined as the Old Market Square . The square

1728-653: A wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of

1836-589: Is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for

1944-447: Is also in the area; it was built in the 1970s on the demolished Victoria railway station site. All that remains of the old station is the station hotel and clock tower. The 250-foot-high Victoria Centre flats stand above the shopping centre and are the tallest buildings in the city . The Lace Market area just south of Hockley has streets with four- to seven-storey red brick warehouses, iron railings and red phone boxes . Many of

2052-551: Is also the home of two professional football teams: Notts County , recognised as the world's oldest professional league club, and Nottingham Forest , famously two-time winners of the UEFA European Cup under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor in 1979 and 1980 . The city has professional rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams; it also hosts the Aegon Nottingham Open , an international tennis tournament on

2160-499: Is back on the political agenda and there is now pressure on the green belt which surrounds the city. Nottingham City Council is a unitary authority , and is based at Loxley House on Station Street. It consists of 55 councillors , representing 20 wards , who are elected every four years; the last elections being held on 2 May 2019 . The council is independent of Nottinghamshire County Council but work with them for local developments and other matters. Nottingham, though, remains

2268-710: Is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling  –

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2376-576: Is dominated by the Council House , which was built in the 1920s to replace the Nottingham Exchange . The Council House has baroque columns and two stone lion statues in the front to stand watch over the square. The Exchange Arcade , on the ground floor, is a shopping centre. Tall office buildings line Maid Marian Way. The Georgian area around Oxford and Regent Streets is dominated by small professional firms. The Albert Hall faces

2484-472: Is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease

2592-463: Is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace -making, bicycle and tobacco industries. The city is also the county town of Nottinghamshire and the settlement was granted its city charter in 1897, as part of Queen Victoria 's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. In the 2021 Census , Nottingham had a reported population of 323,632. The wider conurbation, which includes many of the city's suburbs, has

2700-521: Is the only city in the Midlands to be ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . Nottingham is a major sporting centre and, in October 2015, was named 'Home of English Sport'. The National Ice Centre , Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre and Trent Bridge international cricket ground are all based in or around the city, which

2808-569: The Ardwick train depot began in March 2005 and was completed in 2006. In December 2005, work started on the new Leeman Road depot in York ; it was opened during May 2007. First TransPennine Express managed the following 30 stations, many of which transferred to TransPennine (First Group) : Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC )

2916-539: The Department for Transport awarded First TransPennine Express a contract extension until March 2015. Included was a clause to allow the end date to be brought forward to April 2014 to coincide with the end-date of the Northern Rail franchise. In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would again be extended until 1 April 2016. Despite this announcement, the long term future of

3024-581: The First Division , four League Cups , a UEFA Super Cup and two European Cups . During this time Forest signed Trevor Francis , Britain's first £1 million footballer, who joined the club in February 1979 from Birmingham City . The city was the site of race riots in 1958 , centred on the St Ann's neighbourhood. During the second half of the 20th century Nottingham saw urban growth with

3132-485: The Gothic revival St Barnabas' Roman Catholic Cathedral by Pugin . Nottingham Castle and its grounds are located further south in the western third of the city. The central third descends from the university district in the north, past Nottingham Trent University 's Gothic revival Arkwright Building. The university also owns many other buildings in this area. The Theatre Royal on Theatre Square, with its pillared façade,

3240-769: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of

3348-535: The InterCity East Coast franchise. Nottingham Nottingham ( / ˈ n ɒ t ɪ ŋ ə m / NOT -ing-əm , locally / ˈ n ɒ t n ʊ m / ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire , East Midlands , England. It is located 33 miles (53 km) south-east of Sheffield and 45 miles (72 km) north-east of Birmingham . Nottingham

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3456-839: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of

3564-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains

3672-634: The Styal Line , Manchester to Preston Line , West Coast Main Line , Furness Line and Windermere Branch Line . These services were formerly operated by First North Western with the exception of the Scottish routes, which were previously operated by Virgin CrossCountry from Manchester Piccadilly . Following timetable changes in May 2014 the following services operated: With the completion of

3780-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating

3888-547: The University of Law and the University of Nottingham ; in the 2016/17 academic year, Trent University was attended by 29,370 students and Nottingham University by 32,515. The University of Nottingham Medical School is part of the Queen's Medical Centre . There are three colleges of further education located in Nottingham: Bilborough College is solely a sixth form college ; Nottingham College

3996-603: The modern Welsh name for Nottingham, and in English as the City of Caves . The English name of Nottingham is Anglo-Saxon in origin. A Saxon chieftain named Snot ruled an area known as Snotingaham in Old English ; the homestead of Snot's people ( -inga = 'the people of'; -ham = 'homestead'). Some authors derive Nottingham from Snottenga (caves) and ham (homestead) but "this has nothing to do with

4104-735: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,

4212-541: The ATP and WTA tours. This accolade came just over a year after Nottingham was named as the UK's first City of Football . The city is served by Nottingham railway station and the Nottingham Express Transit tram system; its bus company, Nottingham City Transport , is the largest publicly owned bus network in England. In December 2015, Nottingham was named a ' City of Literature ' by UNESCO , joining

4320-848: The American credit card company Capital One ; the national law firm Browne Jacobson ; and Earache Records , an independent music company founded by local resident Digby Pearson , based on Handel Street in Sneinton . Nottingham also has offices of Nottingham Building Society (established 1849); HM Revenue & Customs ; the Driving Standards Agency ; Ofsted ; the Care Quality Commission and BBC East Midlands . The schools and aerial photographers, H Tempest Ltd, were Nottingham-based for many years, until relocating to St Ives, Cornwall January 1959. Nottingham

4428-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded

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4536-480: The British railway infrastructure company Network Rail for period 7 of the financial year 2013/14 were down on the same period last year at 87.8% ( PPM ) and MAA up to 12 October 2013 stood at 90.5%. First TransPennine Express inherited a fleet of two- and three-car Class 158 Express Sprinter trains from Arriva Trains Northern . It also operated Class 175 Coradias on hire from Arriva Trains Wales . One of

4644-494: The Class 170s from May 2015 and the other four from February 2016. First TransPennine hired Class 156 Super Sprinters (which were originally intended to be used for extra capacity on Northern Rail services) from Northern Rail to work in pairs on the Manchester Airport-Blackpool North route, ahead of that route's transfer (along with the services to Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere) to the new Northern franchise in April 2016. First TransPennine Express's franchise agreement required

4752-437: The Class 185s having a higher passenger capacity than two-car Class 158s, passengers were frequently left behind due to severe overcrowding around peak times. During 2007, a report produced by Transport for Greater Manchester stated that projected passenger numbers would likely necessitate the introduction of 100–125 mph (161–201 km/h) 8-car trains by 2014. At one point, it was planned to all services to be operated by

4860-422: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that

4968-458: The English form". Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen . The early history of Nottingham dates back to 919 A.D. where King Edward the Elder captured Nottingham to which he built a fortress on the southern bank of the river Trent in 921 A.D. During the Norman Conquest King William the Conqueror built a castle in Nottingham which was entrusted to William Peverel . The Anglo-Saxon settlement

5076-815: The National Videogame Museum. Nottingham is the East Midlands' largest economy. The headquarters of several large companies are based in the city: these include Alliance Boots (formerly Boots the Chemists ); Chinook Sciences; GM (cricket bats); Pedigree Petfoods ; VF Corporation (American clothing); Changan Automobile (Chinese-made automobiles); the credit reference agency Experian ; energy company E.ON Energy UK ; betting company Gala Bingo ; amusement and gambling machine manufacturer Bell-Fruit-Games; engineering company Siemens ; sportswear manufacturers Speedo ; high-street opticians Vision Express and Specsavers ; games and publishing company Games Workshop ; PC software developer Serif Europe (publisher of PagePlus and other titles); web hosting provider Heart Internet ;

5184-446: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became

5292-465: The Northern franchise and transfer the Nottingham to Liverpool portion of the Norwich to Liverpool service operated by East Midlands Trains to the TransPennine franchise. During August 2014, the DfT announced that FirstGroup , Keolis / Go-Ahead and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise. On 9 December 2015, FirstGroup was awarded the franchise in its own right with TransPennine Express taking over on 1 April 2016. As

5400-452: The Nottingham urban district extends into Derbyshire where Ilkeston and Long Eaton are administered by Erewash Borough Council , and Ripley by Amber Valley . To the north, Hucknall is governed by Ashfield District Council , while in the east Arnold and Carlton form part of the Borough of Gedling . South of the river, the town of West Bridgford lies in Rushcliffe , as do the outlying villages of Ruddington and Tollerton and

5508-411: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises

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5616-413: The UK textile industry, Nottingham's textile sector fell into decline in the decades following the Second World War . Little textile manufacture now takes place in Nottingham; however, many of the former industrial buildings in the Lace Market district have been restored and put to new uses. Nottingham was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , and at that time consisted of

5724-482: The United Kingdom, Nottingham has a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb) and experiences warm mild summers and mild to cool winters with abundant precipitation throughout the year. There are two weather-reporting stations close to Nottingham: the former "Nottingham Weather Centre", at Watnall , about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of the city centre; and the University of Nottingham 's agricultural campus at Sutton Bonington , about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of

5832-466: The buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of

5940-487: The buildings have been converted into apartments, bars and restaurants. The largest building in the Lace Market is the Adams Building , built by Thomas Chambers Hine for Thomas Adams (1807–1873), and currently used by Nottingham College . The Georgian-built Shire Hall, which was once Nottingham's main court and prison building, is now home to the National Justice Museum (formerly the "Galleries of Justice"). Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem (the Trip), partially built into

6048-433: The castle during medieval times. There are also caves beneath the Salutation that date back to the medieval period, although they are no longer used as beer cellars. The Bell Inn is probably the oldest of the three pub buildings still standing, according to dendrochronology , and has medieval cellars that are still used to store beer. Almost 62,000 students attend the city's three universities, Nottingham Trent University ,

6156-409: The castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later. Defences consisted initially of a ditch and bank in the early 12th century. The ditch was later widened, in the mid-13th century, and a stone wall built around much of

6264-457: The cave system beneath Nottingham Castle, is a contender for the title of England's Oldest Pub, as it is supposed to have been established in 1189. The Bell Inn in the Old Market Square, and Ye Olde Salutation Inn (the Salutation) in Maid Marian Way have both disputed this claim. The Trip's current timber building probably dates back to the 17th or 18th century, but the caves are certainly older and may have been used to store beer and water for

6372-428: The city centre. The highest temperature recorded in Nottingham (Watnall) stands at 39.8 °C (103.6 °F), whilst Sutton Bonington recorded a temperature of 39.4 °C (102.9 °F), both recorded on 19 July 2022 , and the record-high minimum temperature is 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) recorded on 20 July 2022. On average, a temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) or above is recorded on 11 days per year, whilst

6480-513: The city, native wildlife includes red fox , peregrine falcon and common kingfisher . Notable nature reserves around the city include Attenborough Nature Reserve SSSI, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, Holme Pit SSSI, Fairham Brook Local Wildlife Site and Wollaton Park . Due to its position as a central city with strong transport links, Nottingham has become home to invasive animal and plant species including rose-ringed parakeet , Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam . In 2017 it

6588-658: The city, these areas are governed by a two tier system of local government. Nottinghamshire County Council is based at the county hall. It provides the upper tier of local government whilst the lower tier is split into several district or borough councils. The County Council are responsible for Health, Social Care, Education, Highways, Transport, Libraries and Trading Standards, whilst the lower tier councils are responsible for local planning, neighbourhood services, housing, licensing, environmental health and leisure facilities. The towns of Beeston , Stapleford and Eastwood are administered by Broxtowe Borough Council . Further west still,

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6696-461: The city. Electric trams were introduced to the city in 1901; they served the city for 35 years until 1936. Trams were reintroduced after 68 years when a new network opened in 2004. In the sporting world, Nottingham is home to the world's oldest professional football club, Notts County , which was formed in 1862. The town's other football club, Nottingham Forest , had a period of success between 1977 and 1993 under manager Brian Clough , winning

6804-404: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs

6912-499: The county town of Nottinghamshire even though the county hall is in the neighbouring town of West Bridgford where the county council is based. The city also has a Lord Mayor who is selected by city councillors from among themselves. The position is largely ceremonial but the Lord Mayor also acts as Chair of Full Council meetings. The City of Nottingham's boundaries are tightly drawn and exclude several suburbs and towns that are usually considered part of Greater Nottingham . Unlike

7020-435: The development of new public and private housing estates and new urban centres, which have engulfed former rural villages such as Bilborough, Wollaton, Gedling and Bramcote. South of the river there has also been expansion with new areas such as Edwalton and West Bridgford, adding to Nottingham's urban sprawl . Although this growth slowed towards the end of the century, the modern pressures for more affordable and council housing

7128-518: The duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or

7236-441: The establishment of two new depots equipped to handle the new rolling stock that it was to operate. The primary depot was to be sited in Manchester while a secondary depot suitable for both stabling and maintenance activities was to be based at York. In addition, an existing depot at Cleethorpes was to be upgraded with refuelling and controlled-emission toilet servicing facilities and a train electric auxiliary supply. Construction of

7344-421: The filming location of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning , was demolished in 2003 to make way for the University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus 's expansion. In 2015, Nottingham was ranked in the top 10 UK cities for job growth (from 2004 to 2013), in the public and private sectors. and in the same year, it was revealed that more new companies were started in Nottingham in 2014–15 than in any other UK city, with

7452-475: The first stage of the North West electrification programme, the Scottish services were operated from 8 December 2013 by newly arrived Class 350 electric units and rerouted to stop at Wigan North Western after joining the West Coast Main Line close to Newton-le-Willows. Most stops at Bolton and Chorley were withdrawn as a result. With a number of peak services still operating via Bolton/Chorley or Bolton/Wigan North Western. Official performance figures released by

7560-600: The franchise it extended the Manchester to Hull service to Bridlington , a decision later reversed. In May 2014, an hourly service between Liverpool Lime Street and Newcastle Central was introduced. It ran non-stop between Liverpool and Manchester Victoria and onward to Newcastle via Leeds reducing journey times between Liverpool and Manchester by 15 minutes and Liverpool to Leeds by 25 minutes. An hourly service operated from Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport , Sheffield , Doncaster and Scunthorpe . TransPennine North West used sections of

7668-399: The franchise remained uncertain; local transport authorities and consultancies proposed merging Trans-Pennine services into other franchises, speculating that this would increase efficiency on the rail network. Specifically, the Manchester Airport to Scotland service could be transferred to the InterCity West Coast franchise after the electrification of lines around Manchester by 2018, while

7776-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating

7884-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in

7992-528: The highest concentration of higher education providers in the East Midlands . A community existed in what is now Nottingham's city centre before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain . This community was recorded under the name Tigguo Cobauc ( Brythonic : Tig Guocobauc ) by the ninth century cleric Asser , in his work The Life of King Alfred . This original name survives as Y Tŷ Ogofog ,

8100-561: The late 18th century was the German traveller C. P. Moritz , who wrote in 1782, "Of all the towns I have seen outside London, Nottingham is the loveliest and neatest. Everything had a modern look, and a large space in the centre was hardly less handsome than a London square. A charming footpath leads over the fields to the highway, where a bridge spans the Trent. … Nottingham … with its high houses, red roofs and church steeples, looks excellent from

8208-480: The late medieval period Nottingham alabasters were exported as far afield as Iceland, and may be one reason why a small number of Icelandic immigrants lived in Nottingham during the 15th century. The town became a county corporate in 1449 giving it effective self-government, in the words of the charter, "for eternity". The Castle and Shire Hall were expressly excluded and remained as detached Parishes of Nottinghamshire . One of those highly impressed by Nottingham in

8316-484: The legends of Robin Hood , Nottingham Castle is the scene of the final showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw. King John of England (formerly Prince John) visited Nottingham in 1199 and 1202. Later King Henry III of England held a court in Nottingham. By the 15th century Nottingham had established itself as a centre of a thriving export trade in religious sculpture made from Nottingham alabaster . During

8424-715: The most prominent commitments of the franchise was the replacement of the entire fleet. Various requirements of this new fleet of diesel multiple units were stipulated, such as the ability to operating at speeds up to 100 mph (160 km/h), comparable acceleration to the Class 180 , the presence of air conditioning and two toilets per vehicle (one of which being suitable for reduced-mobility passengers), gangways between individual carriages, space for storing both luggage and bicycles , internal CCTV coverage, provision for wheelchair passengers, and first class seating. During September 2003, contract for supply and maintenance of 56 trains

8532-614: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,

8640-551: The network while the Class 170 multiple units were used on services from Manchester to Cleethorpes, Hull and York. During May 2014, the Class 350/4s electric multiple units commenced operation on services between Manchester and Scotland. This arrangement enabled the diesel trains previously used on the Manchester to Scotland services to be transferred to other TransPennine Express services. The Manchester Airport to Blackpool route

8748-513: The new Class 185 Desiros ; however, weight restrictions on the Micklefield to Hull line restricted the Class 185s to 65–75 mph (105–121 km/h). To resolve this issue as well as to create extra capacity, First TransPennine Express leased eight Class 170 Turbostars from late 2006 that were surplus to South West Trains ' requirements, and in November 2007 a ninth was transferred from Central Trains . The Class 185 fleet operated across

8856-641: The overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside

8964-587: The parishes of St Mary, St Nicholas and St Peter. It was expanded in 1877 by adding the parishes of Basford , Brewhouse Yard, Bulwell , Radford , Sneinton , Standard Hill, and parts of the parishes of West Bridgford , Carlton , Wilford (North Wilford). In 1889 Nottingham became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888 . City status was awarded as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria, being signified in

9072-594: The parliamentary constituency boundaries do not align with the boundaries of the council districts of which they share their name. Nottingham is situated on an area of low hills along the lower valley of the River Trent , and is surrounded by the Sherwood Forest in the north, the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield in the west, and the Trent and Belvoir Vales in the east and south. Within

9180-574: The perimeter of the town. A short length of the wall survives, and is visible at the northern end of Maid Marian Way, and is protected as a Scheduled Monument. On the return of King Richard the Lionheart from the Crusades in 1194, the castle was occupied by supporters of Prince John , including the Sheriff of Nottingham . It was besieged by Richard and, after a sharp conflict, was captured. In

9288-488: The privatised operator Northern Spirit and its successor, Arriva Trains Northern . In 2000, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it planned to reorganise the North West Regional Railways and Regional Railways North East franchises operated by First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern . A TransPennine Express franchise would be created for the long-distance regional services while

9396-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with

9504-486: The remaining services were to be operated by a new Northern franchise. In July 2003, the TransPennine Express franchise was awarded to a joint venture between FirstGroup and Keolis , and the services formerly operated by Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western were transferred to First TransPennine Express on 1 February 2004. The franchise was originally scheduled to end on 31 January 2012; however, in August 2011,

9612-753: The responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside , the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground ,

9720-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over

9828-628: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with

9936-532: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,

10044-571: The south Trans-Pennine route between Manchester and Cleethorpes could be transferred to East Midlands Trains , who operated an hourly service on the Manchester to Sheffield section. In June 2014, the DfT confirmed that there would be two separate franchises in the north of England, one focused on delivering intercity rail services and the second to provide local rail services. At the time, proposals were made to transfer services including York to Scarborough and Doncaster to Cleethorpes services to

10152-588: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under

10260-446: The target sectors of their economic development strategy would include low-carbon technologies; digital media ; life sciences ; financial and business services; and retail and leisure. The city formerly had a major bicycle manufacturing industry sector. Raleigh Bicycle Company was established in 1886 and Sturmey-Archer , the developer of three-speed hub gears, was also founded in the city. Raleigh's factory on Triumph Road, famous as

10368-477: The town of Bingham . Nottingham has three UK parliamentary constituency seats within its boundaries. Nottingham North has been represented since 2017 by Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Alex Norris , Nottingham East since 2019 by Labour MP Nadia Whittome and Nottingham South since 2010 by Labour MP Lilian Greenwood . Each of the outer districts (Broxtowe, Ashfield, Gedling and Rushcliffe) are also parliamentary constituencies in their own right although

10476-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in

10584-423: Was also electrified, allowing further diesel trains to be cascaded on to other TransPennine Express services. However, this work was not completed until after the end of the former TransPennine Express franchise. In February 2012, the Department for Transport announced that 10 four-car electric Class 350 Desiros had been ordered to operate services from Manchester to Scotland via Wigan after electrification. It

10692-461: Was built in 1865. King and Queen Streets are home to striking Victorian buildings designed by such architects as Alfred Waterhouse and Watson Fothergill . The Canal-side to the south of the city is adjacent to Nottingham railway station and home to multiple repurposed (as bars and restaurants) 19th-century industrial buildings. The eastern third of the city contains Hockley Village , with specialist and independent shops. The Victoria Centre

10800-439: Was confirmed that all the existing rolling stock would remain with the franchise to boost capacity. However, in March 2014, it was announced that the nine Class 170 Turbostars would move to Chiltern Railways . MP Stephen Hammond revealed on 12 March 2014 that all of the Class 170/3s would remain with First TransPennine Express until the May 2015 timetable change. In January 2015, it was confirmed Chiltern would take five of

10908-537: Was formed in 2017, by the amalgamation of Central College Nottingham and New College Nottingham (which had both previously formed from the merger of smaller FE colleges); and the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies , owned by Nottingham Trent University, is a further education college that specialises in media. The city has dozens of sixth form colleges and academies, providing education and training for adults aged over sixteen. Nottingham also has

11016-566: Was named one of the UK's six science cities in 2005 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown . Among the science-based industries within the city is BioCity . Founded as a joint venture between Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham, it is the UK's biggest bioscience innovation and incubation centre, housing around 80 science-based companies. In 2010, Nottingham City Council announced that

11124-722: Was originally confined to the area today known as the Lace Market and was surrounded by a substantial defensive ditch and rampart, which fell out of use following the Norman Conquest and was filled by the time of the Domesday Book (1086). Following the Norman Conquest the Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall and Law Courts. A settlement also developed around

11232-447: Was reported that Nottingham was one of a number of UK cities that broke WHO air pollution guidelines for the maximum concentration of small particulate matter; the pollution in part being caused by harmful wood-burning stoves. Nottingham is bounded by a green belt area, provisionally drawn up from the 1950s. Completely encircling the city, it extends for several miles into the surrounding districts, as well as towards Derby. Like most of

11340-416: Was signed between First TransPennine Express and the rolling stock manufacturer Siemens . During early 2004, the new train requirement was reduced from 56 to 51 units by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). These trains were specifically designed to traverse the steep hills encountered on the TransPennine routes and thus had a relatively high power output compared to other DMUs; however, as this level of power

11448-548: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these

11556-576: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of

11664-451: Was unnecessary for most of the train's routes, it incurred relatively low fuel efficiency. During 2006, First TransPennine Express acquired two static simulators from Corys TESS to better facilitate driver training ahead of the introduction of new rolling stock. The Class 185 trains proved popular with off-peak travellers, although these satisfaction levels decreased for passengers undertaking long-distance journeys and at peak times. Despite

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