2019-04-10 More seats, services and state-of-the-art trains for passengers on new East Midlands Railway (Department for Transport)

2019-04-10 [[Statement about Stagecoach Group]] (Department for Transport)

2019-04-10 Department for Transport rail franchising programme (Stagecoach Group)

2019-04-10 Virgin Trains statement (Virgin Trains)

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2019-04-10 Andy McDonald comments on DfT's handling over railfranchise bids (Labour Party)

2019-04-10 Midlands Connect comment on Abellio winning the East Midlands Railway franchise (Midlands Connect)

2019-04-10 East Midlands Railway franchise - Transport Focus comment (Transport Focus)

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date 12 Nov 2007
source Stagecoach Group
type Press release

Stagecoach Group today (12 November 2007) pledged to deliver a first-class railway for passengers and employees as it marked the launch of the new East Midlands rail franchise.

East Midlands Trains - the Group's new train company for the East Midlands and South Yorkshire - started its seven-year-and-four-month franchise on 11 November at 2am.

The franchise is made up of all of the existing main line train services running to London St Pancras International, regional rail services in the East Midlands area and inter-regional services between Norwich and Liverpool.

Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, said: "We are really looking forward to getting stuck into what we do best - running a railway of which both our passengers and employees can be proud.

"Between June, when the Department for Transport announced we had been awarded the franchise, and today we have been working hard behind the scenes getting everything ready to make sure that day one goes as smoothly as possible. I would like to thank everyone who has got us this far and look forward to working with them in the future to make this franchise a success."

Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: "We are looking forward to working closely with local stakeholders to make this one of the best railways in Britain.

"Running a first class railway is all down to people. We want to build a new era of partnership with our employees and together deliver our exciting package of improvements to customers."

Key stakeholders in the franchise area were today given an opportunity to see the first train in its new livery and travel to the newly refurbished London St Pancras International station.

Highlights of improvements planned by Stagecoach under the new franchise include:

o new links to Europe in partnership with Eurostar.
o faster journey times from Sheffield and Leicester to London from 2008
o better performance across the franchise
o more seats and a programme of train refurbishment
o investment at Derby's Etches Park train maintenance depot
o a centralised information and security centre
o more car parking spaces
o two new stations at East Midlands Parkway and Corby

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Steve Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications
Stagecoach Group
Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
email: steven.stewart@stagecoachgroup.com


NOTES TO EDITORS
East Midlands rail franchise

The East Midlands Franchise comprises:

o the former Midland Mainline franchise that operated high speed long distance services from London St. Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham
o the regional services formerly operated by Central Trains between Nottingham and Derby/Lincoln/Cleethorpes/Skegness, between Derby and Crewe/Matlock/ and Norwich and Liverpool

It is planned that the franchise will run until 31 March 2015, the last year and 4 months of which will be conditional upon achieving pre-set performance targets.

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group is a leading international transport group, with extensive bus and rail operations in the UK and North America. The Group's businesses operate around 12,000 vehicles and rolling stock, and employ around 27,000 people.

Rail

Stagecoach operates the South Western rail franchise, which includes the South West Trains and Island Line networks. South West Trains, the UK's biggest commuter rail network, runs nearly 1700 trains a day in the south-west of England out of London Waterloo. Island Line, on the Isle of Wight, has been designated a Community Rail Partnership. In addition, Stagecoach has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.

Stagecoach is Britain's biggest tram operator, running networks in both Sheffield and Manchester. The Group operates the Supertram network in Sheffield, a 29km tram system incorporating three routes in the city, on a 27-year concession running until 2024. Stagecoach Group also operates and maintains the 37km Manchester Metrolink tram network under a 10-year contract with Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive ("GMPTE"). The contract includes managing a number of special projects sponsored by GMPTE to improve the trams and infrastructure to benefit passengers. Stagecoach Metrolink will also be responsible for operating tram services on the new Metrolink lines to Oldham, Rochdale, Droylsden and Chorlton.

Railhub Archive ::: 2007-11-12 STG-001