• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

East Midlands franchise won by Abellio

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

43055

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
2,884
Abellio have won the franchise.

From Gov.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...s-for-passengers-on-new-east-midlands-railway
More seats, services and state-of-the-art trains for passengers on new East Midlands railway
Abellio announced to run East Midlands Railway franchise from August 2019.
  • Abellio has been announced as the successful bidder to run services on the East Midlands Railway from August 2019 until 2027
  • passengers to benefit from new trains with more peak-time seats, reduced journey times, and over £17 million of station improvements
  • action on delivering more environmentally-friendly services, with a commitment to trials of hydrogen fuel cell trains and zero-carbon station pilots
Abellio has today (10 April 2019) been announced as the successful bidder to operate the East Midlands Railway franchise, responsible for delivering new trains, smart ticketing and more frequent services for passengers.

Abellio will oversee the introduction of brand-new trains, entirely replacing the existing intercity fleet with more reliable and comfortable trains. Passengers will benefit from an 80% increase in the number of morning peak seats into Nottingham, Lincoln and St Pancras.

Passengers will also see faster journey times over long-distances, a new express service from Corby through Luton into London, the introduction of improved delay repay compensation and flexipass tickets to provide better value fares.

The East Midlands Railway will also be at the forefront of the government’s commitment to deliver a cleaner, greener rail network. Abellio will trial hydrogen fuel cell trains on the Midland Main Line and will run zero-carbon pilots at 6 stations along the route.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

Improving the experience for passengers is at the heart of this new franchise. Abellio will deliver state-of-the-art new trains, upgraded ticketing systems and improvements to stations.

Through zero-carbon pilot schemes, trialling hydrogen fuel cell trains and delivering more seats on modern, spacious trains, the new franchise will also play a major role in building a railway fit for the future.

Dominic Booth, Managing Director of Abellio UK, said:

Abellio is proud to have been selected as the Winning Bidder for the East Midlands franchise. We look forward to this franchise driving economic growth and delivering significant benefits for passengers.

Abellio will invest £600 million in improvements to trains and stations, maximising the effect of the government’s £1.5 billion upgrade of the Midland Main Line, to make journeys easier, more reliable and comfortable for our passengers.

Closer collaboration between East Midlands Railway and Network Rail will ensure that track and train are aligned to deliver vital enhancements to infrastructure and to put the interests of passengers first.

Abellio will also oversee the introduction of:

  • more flexible and convenient smart ticketing options
  • free wifi and high quality mobile connectivity on board services
  • improved delay repay compensation for all passengers
  • a stations improvement fund of £16.8 million, including £6.9 million for accessibility improvements
  • £9.4 million of investment to deliver commercial and customer service improvements at stations
  • 916 extra car park spaces and 1,050 cycle spaces
  • ticket buying facilities in place at all stations
The government is investing nearly £48 billion over the next 5 years to modernise the railway, including more than £1.5 billion to upgrade the Midland Main Line, the biggest upgrade of the line since it was completed in 1870.

Alongside this, there is a root-and-branch review of the railway underway, independently chaired by Keith Williams. This will make ambitious recommendations before the end of the year to reform the structure of the whole rail industry to prioritise passengers’ and taxpayers’ interests.

The next East Midlands Railway franchise and the ongoing competitions include significant improvements for passengers and steps to bring track and train closer together. From 2020 further reforms, advised by the Rail Review, will be rolled out across the country. These will be guided by the approaches that deliver benefits to passengers soonest. Awarding the new East Midlands franchise is part of that strategy.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,821
Location
East Anglia
That's quite a nice little portfolio Abellio are building across the UK.
 

trentside

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
14 Aug 2010
Messages
3,337
Location
Messroom
Entire inter-city fleet being replaced, but no word on the local side as of yet. Looking like refurbished units, as they’d be touting a 100% new fleet.
 

jw

Member
Joined
25 Jul 2010
Messages
165
No mention of whether or not the Liverpool to Nottingham service has been remapped to another operator?

Also less bombastic than previous announcements like Greater Anglia. No whole fleet renewal I imagine nor any mention of specific good news for UK based manufacturers. I guess we'll just have to wait for the details but I do hope they've done better than giving the Sprinters a good polish!
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
I guess we'll have to see what the fares are like to see whether passengers will be squeezed until the pips squeak.
 

ainsworth74

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
16 Nov 2009
Messages
27,536
Location
Redcar
Is it just me or is the announcement also a bit cagey about the "new intercity fleet"? Previously they've been very big on talking about bi-modes in relation to that so it seems odd that they've suddenly removed that language from their lexicon. Though I see the DfT has taken even further leave of its senses and requires a hydrogen fuel cell trial to be undertaken. Also no word on Liverpool - Norwich as yet! I guess that may have to wait for more detail (which is another departure from the past when we used to get shiny info-graphics and maps with details).

Entire inter-city fleet being replaced, but no word on the local side as of yet. Looking like refurbished units, as they’d be touting a 100% new fleet.

Definitely seems like they'll be keeping some of the current fleet doesn't it? I would assume that the 156s and 158s will be staying (hopefully refurbished!) and I bet these hydrogen fuel cell trains are going to be for 153 replacement.
 

ainsworth74

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
16 Nov 2009
Messages
27,536
Location
Redcar
I would assume that the 156s and 158s will be staying (hopefully refurbished!) and I bet these hydrogen fuel cell trains are going to be for 153 replacement.

Hmm scratch the above. Having read the speech that Failing Grayling will be making later:

Abellio East Midlands will trial hydrogen fuel cell trains on the Midland Main Line

Which suggests that the hyrdogen fuel cell trains will be tied up in the intercity fleet replacement potentially? I'm not sure you could describe any of the local fleets in such terms?
 

DanTrain

Member
Joined
9 Jul 2017
Messages
753
Location
Sheffield
Would be nice if Abellio ordered some more of their new Anglia fleet for the East Midlands, although that might be wishful thinking!
 

DanTrain

Member
Joined
9 Jul 2017
Messages
753
Location
Sheffield
Which suggests that the hyrdogen fuel cell trains will be tied up in the intercity fleet replacement potentially? I'm not sure you could describe any of the local fleets in such terms?
Does that mean they're putting Hydrogen trains on the MML. If so I may be switching to LNER for a few years whilst the inevitable problems manifest themselves. Also, how many years will it take to develop this technology?
 

jw

Member
Joined
25 Jul 2010
Messages
165
The Abellio press release specifically mentions:

Abellio’s commitment will include: investment of £600m including brand new bi-mode trains; a high-quality, dedicated, electric train service between London and Corby; and the introduction of faster, modern, refurbished trains across the whole network.

It doesn't tie the new bi-modes to the intercity fleet, but it's all so general so we'll need to wait 2 weeks or so for the formal contract signature before more details emerge.
 

LowLevel

Established Member
Joined
26 Oct 2013
Messages
7,543
Hmm scratch the above. Having read the speech that Failing Grayling will be making later:



Which suggests that the hyrdogen fuel cell trains will be tied up in the intercity fleet replacement potentially? I'm not sure you could describe any of the local fleets in such terms?

Alternatively they could be used on the Leicester to Nottingham locals *shrug*
 

DelW

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2015
Messages
3,834
I wonder if these promises will be kept? (my boldening):
  • replacing the existing intercity fleet with more reliable and comfortable trains
  • delivering more seats on modern, spacious trains
Since most recently introduced fleets have been fitted with very hard seats with less legroom than their predecessors.
 

43074

Established Member
Joined
10 Oct 2012
Messages
2,003
Definitely seems like they'll be keeping some of the current fleet doesn't it? I would assume that the 156s and 158s will be staying (hopefully refurbished!) and I bet these hydrogen fuel cell trains are going to be for 153 replacement.

Abellio's own press release says this about the local fleet:

Abellio said:
Abellio’s commitment will include: investment of £600m including brand new bi-mode trains; a high-quality, dedicated, electric train service between London and Corby; and the introduction of faster, modern, refurbished trains across the whole network. This investment will also see transformed stations, improved ticketing and accessibility, and enhanced training and benefits for our employees.

... so I wouldn't be surprised if that included cascaded Class 170s or similar on the local side. I doubt they'd say that about a refurbished 15x fleet.
 

pdeaves

Established Member
Joined
14 Sep 2014
Messages
5,632
Location
Gateway to the South West
I note the government release states "Abellio announced to run East Midlands Railway franchise from August 2019." I was under the impression that DfT had taken an option to extend the current contract until March 2020 (from August 2019). What happened to that?
 
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
127
I wonder if these promises will be kept? (my boldening):
  • replacing the existing intercity fleet with more reliable and comfortable trains
  • delivering more seats on modern, spacious trains
Since most recently introduced fleets have been fitted with very hard seats with less legroom than their predecessors.

As has been stated countless times the legroom on the class 800s and soon to be 801s is more than the fleets they have replaced.
 

ainsworth74

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
16 Nov 2009
Messages
27,536
Location
Redcar
We definitely don't need to rehash ground covered by several different threads relating to the IEP trains on this thread! Let's leave it at that shall we?
 

LeeLivery

Established Member
Joined
13 Jul 2014
Messages
1,462
Location
London
Far less in-depth info given in this announcement than previously.

Does that mean they're putting Hydrogen trains on the MML. If so I may be switching to LNER for a few years whilst the inevitable problems manifest themselves. Also, how many years will it take to develop this technology?

This is going to be fun. I'm disappointed they didn't try to play it a little safe with the fleet here. Forgetting the inevitable problems, Hydrogen trains must be rather expensive too.
 

DarloRich

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
29,182
Location
Fenny Stratford
We definitely don't need to rehash ground covered by several different threads relating to the IEP trains on this thread! Let's leave it at that shall we?

agreed! may i also suggest we don't need any fanboyism about the owning companies! There is nothing in this announcement we didn't already know apart from the name of the winner!

Does that mean they're putting Hydrogen trains on the MML. If so I may be switching to LNER for a few years whilst the inevitable problems manifest themselves. Also, how many years will it take to develop this technology?

any hydrogen trial will be on a minor route. You are simply not going to try emergent technology on the line into London!

I guess we'll have to see what the fares are like to see whether passengers will be squeezed until the pips squeak.

that will happen regardless of owning company!
 

whhistle

On Moderation
Joined
30 Dec 2010
Messages
2,636
I can see a follow on order for the 196s Abellio have ordered for West Mids.
 

whhistle

On Moderation
Joined
30 Dec 2010
Messages
2,636
I note the government release states "Abellio announced to run East Midlands Railway franchise from August 2019." I was under the impression that DfT had taken an option to extend the current contract until March 2020 (from August 2019). What happened to that?
No, it was always August.
I was confused too as I always thought the timeline was announce in March/April and 6 months of changeover (including the pause for any challenges to be brought).


Interesting that Stagecoach now doesn't have any franchises. Especially as I've seen this:

Separately, a senior DfT official has verbally informed Stagecoach that its bid for the East Midlands franchise, and its bids for the South Eastern and West Coast Partnership contracts, have been disqualified. Stagecoach has been told that its bids were determined as non-compliant principally in respect of pensions risks.
 
Last edited:

43074

Established Member
Joined
10 Oct 2012
Messages
2,003
I can see a follow on order for the 196s Abellio have ordered for West Mids.

Any hints or sources saying this is the case or is it just baseless speculation? New stock has been mentioned for InterCity but not Corby or the local routes.
 

LeeLivery

Established Member
Joined
13 Jul 2014
Messages
1,462
Location
London
any hydrogen trial will be on a minor route. You are simply not going to try emergent technology on the line into London!

Unless that minor route is the Ivanhoe to Leicester, I think they're planning London.

The East Midlands Railway will be at the forefront of the government’s commitment to deliver a cleaner, greener rail network. Abellio East Midlands will trial hydrogen fuel cell trains on the Midland Main Line and will run zero-carbon pilots at six stations along the route.

Edit: Maybe you were joking in disbelief. I'm not sure :lol:
 

whhistle

On Moderation
Joined
30 Dec 2010
Messages
2,636
Any hints or sources saying this is the case or is it just baseless speculation? New stock has been mentioned for InterCity but not Corby or the local routes.
Your rudeness is astounding sometimes!
Sorry, I didn't know we wern't allowed to have an opinion.

Depending on how you read the press release on the Abellio website, that you quoted yourself... I can't see them using Sprinters until 2027. Maybe you can.
 

ForTheLoveOf

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2017
Messages
6,416
Interesting that Stagecoach now doesn't have any franchises.
What's the betting it will win South Eastern?
I believe they have been disqualified from all current franchise bids!

In a way it's a shame that we are losing the penultimate UK-owned rail parent company, meaning that apart from FirstGroup all franchises now indirectly support overseas rail operations.

Something that I'd be wondering is whether Abellio were able to put in a better bid because they now run WMT, and thus are expecting to achieve a certain level of synergies from reduced duplication in the Midlands (e.g. of staff maintaining stations like Wilnecote and Burton-upon-Trent).

I would also have thought that there would be some kind of clause in the franchise agreement to ensure that there isn't an abuse of market power resulting from the fact that passengers from as far afield as Hereford and Sheffield will now have the same parent company flogging tickets to London, and in particular for places like Burton-upon-Trent or Derby where the option is, broadly speaking, now going to be Abellio (WMT) or Abellio (EMR)! I wonder if a similar sort of clause was inserted when FirstGroup got SWR?
 

LeeLivery

Established Member
Joined
13 Jul 2014
Messages
1,462
Location
London
why do you think that?

Quote on my post #24 is from the DfT. Trailing on the MML makes it sound like London is the plan. Though it is up to interpretation.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speec...-and-west-coast-partnership-franchise-updates

They could use Corby - if it doesn't work, stick the pantograph up. Battery tech was first tried (in recent years) on a modified EMU on an electrified branch line.

That would be more sensible than all the way to Sheffield. One can hope.
 

43074

Established Member
Joined
10 Oct 2012
Messages
2,003
Your rudeness is astounding sometimes!
Sorry, I didn't know we wern't allowed to have an opinion.

Depending on how you read the press release on the Abellio website, that you quoted yourself... I can't see them using Sprinters until 2027. Maybe you can.

You are as entitled to your opinion as anyone else is to ask why you have those opinions. On a matter like this there is usually lots of speculation so it can be difficult to separate rumour from fact, hence why I asked for a source or similar. I can't see them keeping 153s or 156s to 2027 either, as I said upthread, but that was purely speculation based on the Abellio press release.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top