East Midlands franchise won by Abellio

[Bletchleyite]

I dont think travelling public opinion on traction has anything to do with it. Why should they need to know or care unless they are of the environmental persuasion?

There are other reasons to prefer an EMU over a DMU, not least the significantly lower noise level.

 

[absolutelymilk]

There are other reasons to prefer an EMU over a DMU, not least the significantly lower noise level.

Plus when someone says what has the new franchise brought in, it's easy to point to the new electric services which are easily identifiable

 

[pt_mad]

I'm confused. Don't like what?

I couldn't work out whether you thought the Electrics brand was a good idea or not so good, as you mentioned it may not be of interest unless someone is of an environmental persuasion.

 

[dk1]

I couldn't work out whether you thought the Electrics brand was a good idea or not so good, as you mentioned it may not be of interest unless someone is of an environmental persuasion.

It's quite historical really. BR used to name recently electrified routes in the same way. Great Northern Electrics to Royston springs to mind. I would have thought 'EMT Commuter' a good name but then that sort of puts off leisure/off peak passengers.

 

[hooverboy]

The 180s are for the Intercity services.

I suspect EMR electrics is just a marketing ploy really, and why not after the money spent electrifying it and the associated benefits of journey times and capacity?

I think there is quite a valid business case for EMR electrics.much much lower running costs than hst/22x sets,and much more mileage per fault.
at least the corby's are likely to turn up,on time.

cannot realistically be said for the 180's...although they may be slightly more reliable than grand central's old hsts.travel from london to kettering seems like a very nice improvement....anything further north looks a bit dicey.

maybe new EMR needs to throw in an hourly kettering-peterborough/leicester diagram just in case the proverbial everyone expects from 180's does hit the fan
I wouldn't care too much if it's a 156,as long as there is a connection to a hub.

 

[43074]

I think there is quite a valid business case for EMR electrics.much much lower running costs than hst/22x sets,and much more mileage per fault.
at least the corby's are likely to turn up,on time.

cannot realistically be said for the 180's...although they may be slightly more reliable than grand central's old hsts.travel from london to kettering seems like a very nice improvement....anything further north looks a bit dicey.

maybe new EMR needs to throw in an hourly kettering-peterborough/leicester diagram just in case the proverbial everyone expects from 180's does hit the fan
I wouldn't care too much if it's a 156,as long as there is a connection to a hub.

Yes there is a solid business case for the electric service, we were discussing the brand though.

I think the risk of the 180s is being over exaggerated somewhat, they will run a tiny proportion of services as a consequence of the very fact there will only be four anyway. Contingency measures like extra trains to Peterborough cost money and would be totally unnecessary 99% of the time anyway. The MML is/will be blessed with lots of contingency (4 tracks Kettering North to St Pancras, the Corby route etc) in the event of problems anyway.

 

[pt_mad]

Yes there is a solid business case for the electric service, we were discussing the brand though.

I think the risk of the 180s is being over exaggerated somewhat, they will run a tiny proportion of services as a consequence of the very fact there will only be four anyway. Contingency measures like extra trains to Peterborough cost money and would be totally unnecessary 99% of the time anyway. The MML is/will be blessed with lots of contingency (4 tracks Kettering North to St Pancras, the Corby route etc) in the event of problems anyway.

Are they likely to run on the Nottingham's with it being a shorter intercity route?

 

[dk1]

Are they likely to run on the Nottingham's with it being a shorter intercity route?

Their operation will be limited to specific diagrams as I would imagine there will only be a small amount of train crew who will sign them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's quite historical really. BR used to name recently electrified routes in the same way. Great Northern Electrics to Royston springs to mind. I would have thought 'EMT Commuter' a good name but then that sort of puts off leisure/off peak passengers.

As mentioned I'd go with "EMR Express", it's a nice bit of alliteration and highlights that (a) they're faster than Thameslink, and (b) they're a step below IC, the hierarchy in the UK having traditionally sort of been regional/Sprinter, Express, IC.

 

[londonmidland]

On the social media side of things, I have noticed since Abellio took over London Midland, there has been a significant lack of information when there is disruption.

Particularly at the weekends.

Take today for example, with significant disruption across their network due to heat related problems, there hasn’t been one tweet or thread created by them. Instead there are individual replies to people’s tweets, simply saying to claim compensation.

East Midlands Trains are generally good at keeping people informed on twitter when there is disruption, but I hope things don’t go downhill once Abellio take over.

 

[lyndhurst25]

EMR? Do they know that that is the name of a scrap metal company well known for cutting up knackered old trains?

 

[Qwerty133]

On the social media side of things, I have noticed since Abellio took over London Midland, there has been a significant lack of information when there is disruption.

Particularly at the weekends.

Take today for example, with significant disruption across their network due to heat related problems, there hasn’t been one tweet or thread created by them. Instead there are individual replies to people’s tweets, simply saying to claim compensation.

East Midlands Trains are generally good at keeping people informed on twitter when there is disruption, but I hope things don’t go downhill once Abellio take over.

The issues with lack of useful information on twitter from the west midlands franchisee has been ongoing for a lot longer than Abellio holding the franchise and if anything the service provided now is slightly better than what was the case for the last couple of years of Govia in that Twitter is now manned after mid-afternoon on weekends (albeit quite possibly by third-party contractors based on the lack of useful information available to whoever is manning it).

 

[Richard Ingram]

EMR? Do they know that that is the name of a scrap metal company well known for cutting up knackered old trains?

I thought it was familiar, I sold them my old hot water cylinder.

 

[hwl]

EMR? Do they know that that is the name of a scrap metal company well known for cutting up knackered old trains?

Shame they won't be running trains to Kingsbury!

 

[raetiamann]

With a little over one month to go, the silence from EMR is deafening. Not even a holding page online as yet. Are their hands tied until the takeover date?

 

[Bletchleyite]

With a little over one month to go, the silence from EMR is deafening. Not even a holding page online as yet. Are their hands tied until the takeover date?

Seems to be an Abellio thing. LNR said nowt until very close to the date.

 

[LowLevel]

With a little over one month to go, the silence from EMR is deafening. Not even a holding page online as yet. Are their hands tied until the takeover date?

There's an updated FAQ going out to staff every week or so.

 

[pt_mad]

For anyone interested there is a thread in the speculation subforum with regards possible ways of solving XC's capacity issues...

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...issues-how-could-they-be-solved.174116/page-5

 

[Laketop]

The franchise name has been added to a Class 156

 

[Skimble19]

The franchise name has been added to a Class 156

Has that unit been recently repainted? Looks extremely clean / shiny..!

 

[RealTrains07]

The franchise name has been added to a Class 156

Almost 1 week to go now
Wasn’t expecting to see any units with logo application untill after EMR starts

 

[Laketop]

Has that unit been recently repainted? Looks extremely clean / shiny..!

A clean, likely. It is the 1443 from Matlock Bath and it has broken down in the station. Spoke to the driver, apparently tons of warning lights.

Edit: misread repainted for repair

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C86101/2019/08/11/advanced

 

[geoffk]

The franchise name has been added to a Class 156

I suppose it's not that important in the scheme of things, but I wonder why franchise names are being changed from "Trains" to "Railway", as also Great Western and South Western. They are not "railway companies" in the sense that the pre-1948 companies were, owning their own permanent way and rolling stock. They are train operators, as the abbreviation TOC implies; they run leased trains and pay another organisation for the right run on its tracks. What do they actually own?

 

[Andy Pacer]

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ery-and-station-branding.187931/#post-4143969

This thread gives details of units etc that are carrying the new logo.

 

[Hairy Bear]

Has that unit been recently repainted? Looks extremely clean / shiny..!

On the 156's, to get the new disabled toilet module in, they cut the body side open, module inserted , weld the body up, then a repaint.

 

[Mariner16]

Has that unit been recently repainted? Looks extremely clean / shiny..!

Most likely had a C6 refurb and vinyl on exteriors. Look nice but its maintaining it that's a problem

 

[anamyd]

Almost 1 week to go now
Wasn’t expecting to see any units with logo application untill after EMR starts

Arriva Trains Wales operated 175-107 in Transport for Wales livery a few weeks before that franchise handover

 

[Killingworth]

222 004 Children's Hospital Sheffield has had EMR INTERCITY added, although the cleaning must have been the minimum to remove the old branding.



This double 158 unit was half old and half new, caught as it passed. 158863 was leading and unchanged, the following unknown unit EMR REGIONAL .

 

[johnw]

I do dislike the use of acronyms as brand names. Of course to 99% of railway enthusiasts know what GWR or LNER stand for but much of the general public will not. The brand is a great marketing tool to sell to the public where the company operates too.

The EMR lettering looks so out of place on Best Impressions brilliant livery.

 

[Killingworth]

I do dislike the use of acronyms as brand names. Of course to 99% of railway enthusiasts know what GWR or LNER stand for but much of the general public will not. The brand is a great marketing tool to sell to the public where the company operates too.

The EMR lettering looks so out of place on Best Impressions brilliant livery.

It looks a lot smarter on the 156.