East Midlands Trains - East Midlands Trains Demise - B

 

 

While originally scheduled to end in March 2015, East Midlands Trains succeeded in having its franchise extended on several occasions. Nevertheless, the company continued to have to periodically submit competitive bids and emerge as the superior offering amongst its rivals to continue operating its services.

 

In March 2017, the DfT announced that Stagecoach, Arriva UK Trains and a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia had been shortlisted to bid for the next East Midlands franchise. Abellio was added to the shortlist in February 2018. FirstGroup and Trenitalia pulled out of the bidding process in April 2018 to focus on the West Coast Partnership franchise.

 

An Invitation to Tender was issued in June 2018, detailing the improvements that bidders for the franchise must make. In April 2019, the DfT awarded the East Midlands franchise to Abellio; Stagecoach had been disqualified from the process because its submission failed to meet employee pension obligations. Accordingly, East Midlands Trains' services were transferred to East Midlands Railway on 18 August 2019.

 

 

 

East Midlands Trains initially divided its services between two sub-brands: Mainline inter-city services, and Connect urban and suburban services, which mainly came from the Central Trains franchise. However, from April 2008, the company dropped the "Mainline" and "Connect" branding in favour of "London" and "Local" services. It also has four broad routes for the areas in which it operates, except for the high-speed services, which all serve London.

 

EMT promised better integration between "London" and "Local" services, together with increased punctuality and becoming more user-friendly.

 

On 25 November 2008, Peter Bone (MP for Wellingborough) asked if the Secretary of State for Transport supports the "In the Can" campaign, whereby sardines are sent to the Chief Executive to show dissatisfaction at perceived overcrowding. Helen Southworth (then MP for Warrington South) also raised the overcrowding issue on the same day.

 

 

East Midlands Trains Franchise(s): East Midlands