Central Trains

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Image:170518 at Peterborough.JPG
Franchise(s):	Central 1997 – November 2007
Main Region(s):	Midlands
Other Region(s):	North West, East Anglia
Fleet size:	156
Stations:	232 (193 operated)
Parent company:	National Express Group
Web site:	www.centraltrains.co.uk

Central Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and cross-country "Citylink" trains in central England. The company’s operations are centred on Birmingham in the West Midlands.

On 19 October 2004, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that at the end of the current franchise in 2006, Central Trains’s routes will be divided between the Silverlink, Chiltern, Virgin Cross Country, Midland Mainline and Northern Rail franchises. The end of the franchise has now been delayed until November 2007 (see 'The Future' below). The Northampton-Long Buckby-Coventry-Birmingham International-Birmingham New Street service was transferred to Central Trains from Silverlink in late 2004.

The franchise covers 1300 miles of the busiest lines in the UK, three times more than Midland Mainline, calling at 300 stations, and has more than half a million passenger-journeys a week. Despite being on a par with most other rail companies for cleanliness, punctuality and cancellations , it still suffers unfairly from its pre-2002 reputation for poor service, when it was hit disproportionately hard by post-Hatfield speed restrictions.

From a low pre-privatisation base, the company now has £74 million worth of new trains, replacing the slam-door rolling stock it inherited with the modern Class 350 ‘Desiros’. It has also refurbished many of its stations, introducing ticket gates and live information boards, and clamped down on vandalism on its trains.

The worst of Central’s problems can arguably be attributed to factors beyond its control. For example, unlike most other rail companies which run mostly north-south routes, Central‘s run mostly on east-west, on tracks which have seen comparatively less investment from owners Network Rail; and although its longer services cover similar distances to intercity routes, they are judged by the tighter commuter route punctuality standards.

Central Trains is owned by the National Express Group.

[edit] Rolling Stock

When National Express Group took over Central Trains in 1997, the company started to dispose of its last 1960s and 70s ‘slam door’ trains. By 2000, all older trains were out of service, and the franchise operated a fleet of one and two carraige Diesel multiple unit railcars, mostly inherited from Regional Railways the division of British Rail that preceded Central. These 'Sprinters' were introduced during the nineteen-eighties, in line with a policy of replacing locomotive hauled trains with shorter but more frequent single class rail car services. Soon after the franchise was awarded in March 1997, 33 new Class 170 100mph air-conditioned Turbostar trains were ordered, continuing the arguably mistaken strategy of operating short fixed-configuration railcars rather than longer or more flexible trains.

Central Trains have recently taken delivery of 30 new 100mph Class 350 Desiro units, which are shared with Silverlink County for use on the West Coast Main Line between Euston and Northampton/Liverpool via Tamworth. The additions are part of a £100 million investment by the SRA to improve comfort, convenience, speed and accessibility. Despite these improvements, Central’s fleet remains unsuited for some of its longer routes.

The majority of Central Trains services are operated by diesel trains, as lines they operate are not electrified.

[edit] Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 170 Turbostar	Image:Central Trains 170639 at Nottingham Station 2005-11-14 02.jpg	diesel multiple unit	100	160	53		1999
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	90	145	12		1989 - 1992
Class 156 Super Sprinter	Image:Central Trains Class 156 DMU at Nottingham station 2005-11-14.jpg	diesel multiple unit	75	120	12		1987 - 1989
Class 153 Super Sprinter	Image:153383 at Coventry 1-Sept-2005.jpg	diesel multiple unit	75	120	16		1987 - 1988
Class 321	Image:321409 HarrowWealdstone.jpg	electric multiple units	100	160	4		1988 - 1991
Class 323	Image:323242 departs Longbrige 1 September 2005.jpg	electric multiple units	100	160	26		1992 - 1993
Class 350 Desiro	Image:350129-LiverpoolLS-01.jpg	electric multiple units	100	160	30	Birmingham - Northampton Birmingham - Preston Birmingham - Liverpool	2004 - 2005

[edit] Network

Central Trains serves 232 stations in the Midlands, North East, North West and East Anglia. Most services are operated in Central Trains colours except for services in the West Midlands county which operate under contract to Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive and operate in the Centro livery. The most notable of these services is the Birmingham Cross-City Line which operates from Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield through Birmingham to Redditch The firm operates 193 stations. The main towns and cities it serves are:

• Birmingham
• Cambridge
• Cardiff
• Crewe
• Cheltenham
• Chesterfield
• Coventry
• Derby
• Doncaster
• Ely
• Gloucester
• Grantham
• Kidderminster
• Leicester
• Lincoln
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Newport
• Northampton
• Norwich
• Nottingham
• Nuneaton
• Peterborough
• Runcorn
• Sheffield
• Shrewsbury
• Stafford
• Stockport
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Stourbridge
• Tamworth
• Telford
• Warrington
• Wolverhampton
• Worcester

[edit] The future

It was announced in October 2005 that the Central franchise will end in April 2007 (later extended to November 2007), as part of a programme to reduce the number of franchises in the Midlands. Central Trains will be split into three parts, each of which will be amalgamated with another franchise:

• West Midlands - this will include Silverlink County, and will take over Central's services West of Leicester and Nottingham.
• East Midlands - this will include Midland Mainline, and will take over Central's services on the Midland Main Line and East of Nottingham.
• Cross-Country - this will encompass Virgin Cross Country, and will be slightly expanded from its current size by taking over the Nottingham to Cardiff, the Birmingham to Stansted "Citylink" services, and the Hereford/Nottingham service.

The future of the problematic Liverpool to Norwich service now appears relatively secure: previous suggestions to split the service into two separate services between Liverpool and Nottingham, and Nottingham and Norwich, have been abandoned[1], and the service will become part of the East Midlands franchise.

Recently Central Trains in the Centro area, which covers the West Midlands, Class 150s have been repainted in a livery similar to the Central Trains services. However, it is not known if the Class 323s shall also be painted in the same livery.

[edit] External links

• Central Trains website
• National Express Group website

Categories: Articles lacking sources from August 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Post-privatisation British railway companies | National Express Group Companies