76-668: London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia . London Midland was created as a result of Govia being awarded the West Midlands franchise on 22 June 2007. This franchise had emerged out of a reorganisation conducted by the Department for Transport , which had combined elements of
152-712: 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
228-571: 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
304-663: 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 was to lose all of its Class 150 units, but a change in plan saw it retain three Class 150 units as additional capacity, following a statement from the Department for Transport on 10 August 2011. However, London Midland transferred two Class 153 units to First Great Western as
380-459: 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 a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by
456-609: A half-hourly service between Crewe and Liverpool by 2016. In March 2011, the application 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 was unmet demand. From April 2012, London Midland began operating an hourly Euston to Crewe service on Sundays. In order to win a contract extension, London Midland had agreed to put on extra services, resulting in an extra 6,600 seats per week. During 2010, London Midland remarked on
532-486: A humorous reference in Gilbert and Sullivan 's comic opera The Mikado . The Mikado is explaining how he will match punishments to the crimes committed : The idiot who, in railway carriages, Scribbles on window-panes We only suffer To ride on a buffer In Parliamentary trains. In 1963 under its chairman Richard Beeching , British Railways produced The Reshaping of British Railways report, designed to stem
608-433: A low of 76% for the period between 10 November and 7 December 2013, while rising to a 92.2% for the period 1–26 April 2014. According to figures released by national rail infrastructure operator Network Rail , London Midland's average punctuality since the start of the franchise was 87%. During September 2013, a new partnership agreement was struck between London Midland and transport authority Centro, which reportedly led to
684-546: A minimum of £11.5m into its stations. London Midland's services were divided between four groups of routes: London Euston Routes , Birmingham Regional , West Midlands Local and Branch Lines . London Midland operated several " parliamentary train " stations, where only a handful of trains a day call. These include: London Midland also operated stations where it operated no services. These stations are only served by CrossCountry , which does not manage any stations. These included: In December 2008, London Midland discontinued
760-539: A penny a mile might be charged". Railway companies reluctantly complied with the law. They scheduled parliamentary trains at inconvenient times and used uncomfortable carriages. One account stated that when passengers complained about a delay, they were told "ye are only the nigger train". James Allport of Midland Railway was proud of providing comfortable third-class service passenger service, but stated that his company needed 25 years to do so. The basic comfort and slow progress of Victorian parliamentary trains led to
836-522: A result. The other Class 150 units were transferred to First Great Western and Northern Rail . During 2011, London Midland announced that it would be procuring a further 18 four-car Class 350 units, eight for itself and ten for sub-lease to First TransPennine Express . In February 2012, it was announced that 20 Class 350 units had been ordered by London Midland. Ten Class 350/3 units entered service with London Midland, and ten Class 350/4 units with First TransPennine Express. The franchise agreement included
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#1732769028397912-425: 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 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
988-471: A start date of 11 November 2007, an end date of September 2015, an option for the Department to end the franchise after six years if Govia did not meet performance targets, and the provision of £1.13bn of subsidy over the course of the franchise, starting with £203m in the first full year and falling to £155m by the last. The company pledged to introduce a new semi-fast service between London and Crewe, acquire at least 37 new multiple units by July 2009, and invest
1064-526: A trickle. In certain cases, where there was exceptionally low usage, the train service was reduced to a bare minimum but the service was not formally closed, avoiding the costs associated with closure. In some cases, the service was reduced to one train a week and in one direction only. These minimal services had resonances of the 19th-century parliamentary services and, among rail enthusiasts , they came to be referred to as "parliamentary trains", "ghost trains", or, more colloquially, "parly" trains (following
1140-602: A two-hourly Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester service was introduced to improve transport links between the two cities as well as to provide an increased service at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury . This service was withdrawn in December 2009 because of low passenger use. In October 2010, London Midland applied to the Office of Rail Regulation to run a new hourly Birmingham to Preston service from 2016 by diverting every other Birmingham to Liverpool train. The Euston to Crewe service would also then be extended to Liverpool to maintain
1216-749: A wider initiative within the Department for Transport to redraw some of the passenger rail franchises that were operating in the mid-2000s. Specifically, it was decided to break up the Silverlink network pending its renewal in November 2007; the Silverlink Metro services were transferred to the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground , while the Silverlink County services were merged with
1292-470: A £10 million investment in station improvements across the West Midlands. 'Transforming Rail Travel' was a deal between the two organisations to continue a two-year arrangement with the aim of delivering further enhancements to services and facilities. During December 2014, the company announced that it would be providing additional seats onboard its trains in its next timetable. Against a background of ongoing rail strikes nationwide, during January 2017,
1368-544: Is served by a single train on Saturdays only, however the station remains open for use when Birmingham City Football Club are playing at home when additional services call there. Operated by West Midlands Trains . In the mid-1990s British Rail was forced to serve Smethwick West in the West Midlands for an extra 12 months after a legal blunder meant that the station had not been closed properly. One train per week each way still called at Smethwick West, even though it
1444-562: The Board of Trade to investigate, and Sir Robert Peel 's Conservative government enacted the Railway Regulation Act 1844 , which took effect on 1 November 1844. It compelled "the provision of at least one train a day each way at a speed of not less than 12 miles an hour including stops, which were to be made at all stations, and of carriages protected from the weather and provided with seats; for all which luxuries not more than
1520-605: The Central Trains services around Birmingham to create a new West Midlands franchise. The Central Trains franchise had also been selected for reorganisation, its operator having acquired an unfavourable reputation for poor timekeeping: its best performing period between 2000 and 2007 still saw one in six trains five minutes late or more, with punctuality figures dropping as low as 61% in 2003. The company also suffered from ongoing staff-relations problems which led to extensive and long-lasting cancellations of Sunday services. It
1596-765: 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
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#17327690283971672-534: The InterCity East Coast franchise. Parliamentary train A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act required that at least one such service per day be run on every railway route in
1748-733: 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 , 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
1824-955: 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
1900-636: The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced that it would be balloting guards at London Midland for potential industrial action over concerns regarding the introduction of externally-contracted security staff on its trains at the end of December 2016, which the RMT alleged would replace the role of "safety-critical" guards on some services, paving the way for DOO operation. London Midland denied having plans in place to implement DOO operation on its network. Following negotiations with
1976-736: 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
2052-573: The Silverlink and Central Trains operations together. London Midland had various commitments to fulfil during the franchise period, including the procurement of at least 37 new multiple units, the introduction of a semi-fast service between London and Crewe, and to invest at least £11.5m into stations. Early rolling stock orders totalled 66 new trains, including two Class 139 Parry People Movers , 12 two-car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-car Class 350/2 Desiros . Further orders and reorganisations of rolling stock would occur during
2128-584: 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, 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 ,
2204-572: 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
2280-676: The legal fiction of an open railway. The branch was officially closed in 2003. Work in track clearance commenced, beginning the work to absorb most of the route into a diversion of the Watford branch of the Metropolitan line into Watford Junction , but work was stopped in 2016 after a reassessment of likely costs and lack of agreement on funding. The temporary replacement bus tactic was used from December 2008 between Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road when Arriva CrossCountry withdrew its services from Brighton to Manchester , which
2356-735: 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,
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2432-431: The railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) 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
2508-630: The Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of 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
2584-565: 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
2660-639: The Class 321s to First Capital Connect (13) and National Express East Anglia (17). The Class 153, Class 170 and Class 323 units were all refurbished. The first of the Class 350/2 units arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Northampton Kings Heath Siemens Depot . By July 2009, they were all in service. London Midland was to lose all of its Class 321 units, but a change of plan saw it retain seven for use both on
2736-502: 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 – 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
2812-659: 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
2888-669: The Express sub-brand from London Euston to and from the West Midlands, Hertfordshire , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Northamptonshire , Staffordshire and Cheshire . Additionally, services on the Stourbridge Town branch line operated by Pre Metro Operations were branded as the London Midland Stourbridge Shuttle. The franchise was originally scheduled to expire in September 2015; this
2964-587: 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
3040-413: The RMT, London Midland ceased using externally-contracted security staff on its trains on 30 January; as a result, the RMT suspended its ballot on 2 February, averting potential industrial action, before formally declaring the dispute closed. London Midland inherited a fleet of Class 150 , Class 153 , Class 170 , Class 321 , Class 323 and Class 350/1s from Central Trains and Silverlink . One of
3116-582: 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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3192-557: The UK. Such trains are no longer a legal requirement (although most franchise agreements require some less expensive trains). The term's meaning has completely changed, to describe train services that continue to be run with reduced frequency, often to the minimum required one train per week, and without specially low prices, to avoid the cost of formal closure of a route or station, retain access rights, or maintain crew training/familiarity requirements on short sections of track. Such services are sometimes called "ghost trains". Sometimes even
3268-579: The Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey branch line and on peak-hour express services between Northampton/Milton Keynes Central/Tring-London Euston. The final seven units moved to Abellio ScotRail in 2015/16, and were replaced by seven Class 319s cascaded from Thameslink . 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
3344-465: The abbreviation used in Victorian timetables). However, this terminology has no official standing. So-called parliamentary services are also typically run at inconvenient times, often very early in the morning, very late at night or in the middle of the day at the weekend. In extreme instances, rail services have actually been "temporarily" withdrawn and replaced by substitute bus services , to maintain
3420-471: 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
3496-407: The current timetable served only by a parliamentary train are: Examples of lines formerly served only by a parliamentary train are: 10:01 / 10:44 from Gerrards Cross 11:47 to High Wycombe from West Ealing A station may have a parliamentary service because the operating company wishes it closed, but the line is in regular use (most trains pass straight through). Examples include: Bordesley
3572-469: 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. There was only one early morning train on Saturdays from Wolverhampton to Walsall ( Parliamentary service ). During December 2008,
3648-542: The franchise period, although one effort, a planned year-long trial of the prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU on the Coventry–Nuneaton line , had to be cancelled after the prototype suffered fire damage. London Midland operated local services in the West Midlands and surrounding areas through its City sub-brand. It also provided long-distance and commuter services on the West Coast Main Line through
3724-514: 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
3800-401: 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
3876-429: The high frequency of breakdowns across its fleet, attributing this poor performance as having been primarily due to the outdated rolling stock that it had inherited and was in the process of replacing. In autumn and winter 2012, a significant volume of services suffered cancellations, which was reportedly due to an acute shortage of available train drivers. Performance since the staff shortages have been varied, reaching
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#17327690283973952-562: The huge losses being incurred as patronage declined. It proposed very substantial cuts to the network and to train services, with many lines closed under a programme that came to be known as the Beeching cuts . The Transport Act 1962 included a formal closure process allowing for objections to closures on the basis of hardship to passengers if their service was closed. As the objections gained momentum, this process became increasingly difficult to implement, and from about 1970 closures slowed to
4028-567: 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 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
4104-499: The major franchise commitments was the replacement of the existing fleet of Class 150 and Class 321 units. Upon being awarded the franchise, London Midland ordered a total of 66 new trains of three different types, comprising two Class 139 Parry People Movers , 12 two-car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-car Class 350/2 Desiros . All but three Class 150 units were cascaded to First Great Western (12 x two-car, 2 x three-car) and Northern Rail (18 x two-car) and
4180-614: 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 ,
4256-617: The next franchise. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) was issued in August 2016 and the franchise was due to be awarded in June 2017. During July 2016, MTR Corporation announced its withdrawal from the bidding process. During July 2017, the franchise was extended until 10 December 2017. In August 2017, the franchise was awarded to the consortium led by Abellio. The new company, named West Midlands Trains , commenced operations on 10 December 2017. [REDACTED] Media related to London Midland at Wikimedia Commons Train operating company In
4332-504: The option of replacing the three remaining Class 150/1 in the fleet with six Class 153 units in June 2017. The Northern franchise agreement indicates this option has been taken up, as the London Midland Class 150 units transferred to Northern in 2017. The Northern franchise agreement also ruled out the option of any additional Class 323 units being leased from Porterbrook to London Midland before 1 January 2019. This option
4408-476: The pretence that the service has not been withdrawn. When the closures brought about by the Beeching Report had reached equilibrium, it was recognised that some incremental services or station reopenings were desirable. However, if a service was started and proved unsuccessful, it could not be closed again without going through the formal process, with the possibility that it might not be terminated. It
4484-404: 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
4560-716: The railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of 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
4636-614: 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 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
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#17327690283974712-501: 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
4788-628: 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
4864-532: 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,
4940-410: 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
5016-427: The train is omitted, with a bus operating as a cheaper-to-operate " rail replacement service " instead. In the earliest days of passenger railways in the United Kingdom the poor were encouraged to travel in order to find employment in the growing industrial centres, but trains were generally unaffordable to them except in the most basic of open wagons, in many cases attached to goods trains . Political pressure caused
5092-491: The trial to be impossible to complete before the end of the franchise. Former units operated by London Midland include: On 26 November 2015, an early morning commuter service caught fire during the morning commuter rush and passengers had to be evacuated at Lapworth Station. In April 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Govia , MTR Corporation and a consortium of Abellio , East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Mitsui had been shortlisted to bid for
5168-505: 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
5244-403: Was extended to March 2016, and once again to October 2017 in return for London Midland's agreement to put on extra trains and enact other service improvements in this additional time. During July 2017, London Midland's franchise was further extended until 10 December 2017, after which point the new franchisee, West Midlands Trains , took over operations. The creation of London Midland came out of
5320-406: Was not taken up as Northern kept its 323s. In July 2016, London Midland and the West Midlands Combined Authority announced that it would run a year-long trial of the prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU on the Coventry–Nuneaton line . During January 2017, the trial was abruptly cancelled and the funding withdrawn by the West Midlands Combined Authority as a fire on the trial unit would have caused
5396-479: Was only a few hundred yards from the replacement Smethwick Galton Bridge . Many least used stations are also served infrequently or irregularly. A variant of the parliamentary train service was the temporary replacement bus service , as employed between Watford and Croxley Green in Hertfordshire . The railway line was closed to trains in 1996, but to avoid the legal complications and costs of actual closure train services were replaced by buses, thus maintaining
5472-545: Was originally announced that the Central Trains franchise would end in April 2007, although it was subsequently a extended until November 2007. The new West Midlands franchise was tendered and competitively bid for by private companies to operate it. On 22 June 2007, the Department for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise to the British transport group Govia ; the terms of this franchise included
5548-584: Was recognised that this discouraged possible desirable developments and the Transport Act 1962 (Amendment) Act 1981 permitted the immediate closure of such experimental reopenings. The bill that led to the act of 1981 was sponsored by a pro-railways Member of Parliament, Tony Speller , and it is usually referred to as the Speller Act. The process is still in effect, although the legislation has been subsumed into other enactments. Examples of lines in
5624-496: 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
5700-632: 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
5776-522: Was the only passenger service between Factory Junction, north of Wandsworth Road, and Latchmere Junction, on the West London Line . This service was later replaced by a single daily return train between Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road (as above) operated by Southern until formal consultation commenced and closure was completed in 2013. The replacement bus tactic was used to service Norton Bridge , Barlaston and Wedgwood stations on
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