Central Trains

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Central Trains
A Central Trains Ltd diesel multiple unit at Peterborough station
company Central Trains
Concession and duration Central
1997-2007
Main region Midlands
Secondary regions North West
East Anglia
fleet 156
Train stations 232 (193 managed)
Parent company National Express Group
Central Trains ("Class 158/0" series) train at Cambridge

Central Trains Ltd was a British railway company of the National Express Group , which operated regional and national passenger trains in Central England between 1997 and 2007 . The center of their network was Birmingham .

Central Trains Ltd company

In British passenger rail transport, the operation of subnetworks based on the franchise principle is assigned to interested companies for a limited time by the British Ministry of Transport. The Central Trains sub-network was privatized in March 1997 as one of the last sub-networks and was initially awarded to Central Trains Ltd, part of the National Express Group, until March 2003. The contract was then extended for another three years until March 2006 and in October 2004 for another 1.5 years until autumn 2007.

In the 2004/2005 financial year Central Trains carried around 40.5 million passengers; eight million more than were carried on the same routes in the 1996/1997 financial year before privatization. In 2004/2005, 1,428.2 million passenger kilometers were covered in Central Trains.

Operators of lucrative sub-networks have to pay concession fees to the SRA, while other networks are subsidized. Central Trains received payments totaling £ 155 million in fiscal 2004/2005 , which were granted primarily to cover investments in new vehicles. Of the 18 companies subsidized by the SRA, Central Trains received by far the highest payments in 2004/2005. However, six companies were granted higher subsidies per person-kilometer.

Operation and access offer

Central Trains offered around 1,300 train journeys on weekdays and served 232 stations. "Central Citylink", a brand name of its own, was used for national transport; Local transport in the greater Birmingham area was offered under the supervision of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive under its brand name "Centro".

The following routes were served by Central Trains:

Supraregional ("Central Citylink")

Regional

vehicles

Central Trains Ltd largely renewed the vehicle fleet taken over in 1997 within the ten years of operation. The most recently acquired vehicles were 30 class 350 electric multiple units from the “Desiro” family of vehicles from Siemens , which were used on Central Trains' sections of the West Coast Main Line between Northampton, Birmingham and Liverpool / Preston.

The vehicles, which were all leased , were passed on to other railway companies after the Central Trains operating license ended.

Vehicles in the last operating year 2007
model series Type Construction year number power V / max Seats
class 150/0 Railcar ( diesel ) 1984 2 638 kW 121 km / h 240
class 150/1 Railcar (diesel) 1985/1986 27 425 kW (18 vehicles)
638 kW (9 vehicles) 		121 km / h 138 (18 vehicles)
223 (9 vehicles)
class 150/2 Railcar (diesel) 1986/1987 8th 425 kW 121 km / h 140
class 153 Railcar (diesel) 1987/1988 16 213 kW 121 km / h 72
class 156 Railcar (diesel) 1987-1989 12 425 kW 121 km / h 163
class 158 Railcar (diesel) 1990-1992 12 522 kW 145 km / h 138
class 170/1 Railcar (diesel) 1998/1999 10 895 kW 160 km / h 156
class 170/2 Railcar (diesel) 1998/1999 7th 597 kW 160 km / h 121
class 170/3 Railcar (diesel) 2000 3 895 kW (2 vehicles)
597 kW (1 vehicle) 		160 km / h 174 (2 vehicles)
121 (1 vehicle)
class 170/5 Railcar (diesel) 1999/2000 23 597 kW 160 km / h 134
class 170/6 Railcar (diesel) 1999/2000 10 895 kW 160 km / h 218
class 321 Railcar ( electric ) 1989/1990 4th 996 kW 160 km / h 299
class 323 Railcar (electric) 1992/1993 26th 1,168 kW 121 km / h 284
class 350 Railcar (electric) 2004/2005 30th 1,500 kW 160 km / h 280

End of Central Trains services

On October 19, 2004, the British Ministry of Transport, headed by Alistair Darling , decided to dissolve the “Central Trains” franchise area after the existing contract with Central Trains Ltd had expired on November 11, 2007. The transport services previously combined in this sub-network were instead assigned to three partially existing franchise sub-networks. Instead of the large network “Central Trains”, which included very different services in a large geographical area, a stronger functional and spatial division was to be created. This promises an improvement in reliability and cost savings.

The existing "Central Trains" services were integrated into the following sub-networks on November 11, 2007:

Cross country

Until 2007, the “Cross Country” subnet already included long-distance connections between the south of England , South Wales , Cornwall and Scotland via Birmingham. These were supplemented by the supra-regional Central Trains connections Cardiff– or Hereford – Birmingham – Nottingham and Birmingham – Peterborough – Stansted Airport.

At the same time, the operator of this sub-network changed, with Virgin Trains being replaced by Arriva .

West Midlands

The new "West Midlands" sub-network was formed from the sub-network previously operated by Silverlink with services on between London and Northampton as well as previous Central Trains services around Birmingham, Liverpool and Preston. Here, too, there was a change of operator: Instead of Silverlink, London Midland is now providing these services.

East Midlands

The “East Midlands” franchise, which is also new, has all previous “Central Trains” services north and east of a conceptual line between Leicester and Crewe, provided they are not part of the “Cross Country” network. In addition, the entire “Midland Mainline” sub-network, which was operated by Midland Mainline Ltd until April 2008 , was integrated into the “East Midlands” network. This network was operated by East Midlands Trains .

Web links

Commons : Central Trains  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files