Friends of Dore and Totley Station(FoDaTS)
Train Operator Franchises

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Rail Franchises

A brief summary of the Franchises in the country.  The three serving Dore and Totley(D&T) station are:-

  • Northern Rail
  • East Midlands
  • TransPennine Express

All three companies provide rail services i.e. the trains and the staff operating the trains.  They are also responsible for maintaining a number of stations.  The operator with the most services stopping at a station is normally responsible for that station, so Northern are responsible for D&T station.  Several of the largest stations in the country are managed by Network Rail.
This page provides more information on the improvements which have been promised as part of the new Franchise agreements.

 

Northern Rail

Northern_200Northern operates the most railway stations of any train operating company in the United Kingdom, this includes D&T station.  It provides a number of services in the North of England, including the most regular service between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly which call at D&T.  The service uses the Hope Valley line and then most of the services use the line into Manchester via New Mills and Marple.  Most of the trains stop at the stations in the Hope Valley and some of the stations in Greater Manchester.
The franchise changed from Northern Rail owned by Serco-Abellio. to Northern whose parent company is Arriva UK Trains.  The current franchise runs from the 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2025. This franchise has 337 trains, and maintains 475 stations all in the North of England including Dore and Totley.  Main changes for the new Franchise are:-

  • over £1billion investment
  • Pacer Trains (these are the ones used on the service between Sheffield and Manchester) are to be replaced by Oct 2019
  • New Trains are to be purchased and the rest of the fleet is to be refurbished
  • £80 million refurbishment 2016-2018 to bring existing carriages to as new condition
  • Improved Seating, Tables, Toilets, Information Screens, Free OnBoard Wifi and at seat power sockets by the end of 2019
  • New timetable
  • Improve Capacity and Quality
  • Increased Services
  • Partnership with Carillion to transform how station facilities are cleaned and maintained
  • Various new ticketing, fares and facilities

You can download the Northern Customer Report which has more details.

Here is a PowerPoint presentation which shows the Franchise changes promised at the start of the contract.

In Feb 2020 the Government decided to terminate the Franchise agreement with Arriva and take the ownership into Goverment hands under the “Operator Of Last Resort”.  The new Operator started on the 1st March 2020 and will produce an improvement plan in the first 100 days.

 

TransPennine Express Trains

TPexpress_200First TransPennine Express operate all its services in the North of the country, to and through Manchester.  The service which stops at D&T are some of the journeys between Cleethorpes and Manchester Airport.  Click for the current  timetable.

First TransPennine Express was recently awarded a franchise to run a number of services to and from Manchester from the 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2023.  The new franchise is owned by Firstgroup.  The previous franchise called TransPennine Express was owned jointly by Firstgroup and Keolis.

Main changes for the new Franchise are:-

  • £500million investment to transform the services across the North Of England and Scotland
  • 44 new state of the art trains
  • 220 new carriages  by 2020
  • New trains introduced from Spring 2018 onwards
  • over the next four years there will be improved catering, more seats, faster trains, innovative ticketing systems improved journey times
  • Free Wifi on all trains by July 2018 with free TV programmes and films on demand
  • Improved on-board catering, and plugs and USB ports accessible at every seat
  • From 2019, doubling of capacity between Sheffield and Manchester with every train operating with six carriages

A new contract was awarded to First Group plc will run the franchise from the 30th May 2021 until May 2023 with an option to extend until May 2025 TP Express Franchise.

 

East Midlands Railway

EMR_200pxEast Midlands Railway(EMR) took over the East Midland franchise from East Midlands Trains(EMT) on the 18th August 2019.  They will run the franchise until the 22nd August 2027.
EMR provides services in the East Midlands and parts of Yorkshire.  It operates services from London St Pancras International to Northamptonshire, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, as well as local routes throughout Lincolnshire, the East Midlands and Staffordshire and trains between Liverpool and Norwich.
The franchise has seventeen lines, the three which are most likely to affect the Dore and Totley passengers are:-

  • Liverpool to Norwich, some of the services stop at Dore and Totley
  • Sheffield to London St Pancras
  • London St Pancras - Leeds and York

The Department for Transport are responsible for the franchises and they have produced a number of documents on the new franchise.  Here is a summary of the changes being introduced for the three lines mentioned above.

Norwich - Nottingham - Liverpool

Benefits include:

  • early in the new franchise the Liverpool - Nottingham section will transfer to another operator, which will enable the two halves of the service to better meet the needs of customers
  • refurbished, modern trains with:
    • more reliable service
    • improved comfort
    • passenger information system displays
    • free on-board Wi-Fi
    • at-seat power sockets
    • USB points
    • air conditioning
    • tables at all seats
    • increased luggage space
  • limited services will continue to operate via Stamford and Loughborough

Sheffield - Derby - London

Benefits include:

  • from May 2020, modern diesel trains will begin to replace ageing HSTs. Timetable changes will enable faster journey times from December 2020
  • earlier and later train service each day to East Midlands Parkway enabling better airport connectivity
  • earlier and later trains to and from London, with a more regular evening service between London and Sheffield
  • brand-new 125mph trains will be introduced into service from April 2022 with:
    • more reliable service
    • improved comfort
    • passenger information system
    • free on-board Wi-Fi
    • at-seat power sockets
    • USB points
    • air conditioning
    • tables at all seats
    • increased luggage space
    • on-board cycle storage

London - Leeds and York

Benefits include:

  • there will continue to be a limited extension of London St Pancras - Sheffield service to provide a direct service to London from:
    • York, at weekends, and
    • Leeds
  • brand-new 125mph trains will be introduced on the York service in 2022 with the same benefits as the Sheffield to London line above.

Further Information

www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk is the website for the new company

Routes included in the Franchise provides a list of the routes operated by the company.

 Click for the timetable.