London Midland

For the former British Railways region, see London Midland Region (British Railways).

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Franchise(s):	West Midlands 11 November 2007 – 10 December 2017
Main region(s):	West Midlands, London
Other region(s):	West of England, East Midlands
Fleet size:	157 (soon to be 191)
Stations called at:	146
National Rail abbreviation:	LM
Parent company:	Govia (Go-Ahead Group / Keolis)
Web site:	www.londonmidland.co.uk

File:London Midland Rail Network Sagredo.svg

A map of the London Midland Network

File:London Midland Express.svg

London Midland Express route map

File:London Midland City.svg

London Midland City route map

London Midland was the name of a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd. , it was a subsidiary of Govia, and operated the West Midlands Franchise from 11 November 2007 until 10 December 2017.

Their services operated primarily on the West Coast Main Line from London Euston and in the West Midlands region, replacing previous operators Central Trains and Silverlink (both subsidiaries of the National Express Group). Services were then taken over by West Midlands Trains on 10 December 2017.

Routes

London Midland's services were divided between two sub-brands, London Midland Express and London Midland City.

London Midland Express

This sub-brand was used primarily for semi-fast services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

• Birmingham New Street – Liverpool Lime Street (plus one service a day to Preston)
• London Euston - Northampton - Birmingham New Street
• London Euston - Crewe
• London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street (one direct service per day).

The first route is a former Central Citylink service. The second route is the former Silverlink County route (although latterly the services between Northampton and Birmingham have been run jointly with Central Trains. The third service is a new semi-fast service, which will replace current Virgin Trains services from December 2008. This will coincide with the number of Virgin Trains services calling at stations on the Trent Valley Line (and other parts of the WCML) being reduced. The fourth route is an extension of the third route (once a day).

The brand will also be used for two former Silverlink County services on branches off the WCML, namely the Marston Vale Line (from Bletchley to Bedford) and the St Albans Branch Line (from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey). It is a requirement of the franchise that Transport for London's Oyster Cards can be used on trains between London and Watford Junction. In the past, TfL have expressed interest in taking over the St Albans branch, and installing Oyster Card readers on the stations along it; however this route was included with London Midland's franchise.

London Midland City

This sub-brand was used for local and commuter services around the Birmingham / Coventry Area, sponsored by Centro/ Network West Midlands, that were previously run by Central Trains. These services were:

• Birmingham New Street – Northampton
• Birmingham New Street – Wolverhampton
• Lichfield – Birmingham New Street - Redditch (the Cross-City Line)
• Birmingham New Street - Walsall - Stafford (the Chase Line)
• Birmingham New Street – Shrewsbury
• Birmingham New Street – Hereford via Bromsgrove
• Worcester - Birmingham Snow Hill – Leamington Spa / Stratford-upon-Avon (the Snow Hill Lines)
• Stourbridge Junction – Stourbridge Town (the Stourbridge Branch Line)
• Coventry – Nuneaton
• Walsall - Wolverhampton

Smaller stations

London Midland operated several "limited stop" stations, where only a handful of trains a day stop:

These include :

• Hartlebury; six trains a day Monday-Saturday, peak only, no Sunday service.
• Bordesley, one train per day Monday-Friday (a parliamentary train), football specials on Saturday, no Sunday service.

Performance

The first performance figures for London Midland to be released by the ORR for the second half of the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8 are 85.4% PPM.

Rolling stock

File:Jewellry Quarter railway station platform - Birmingham - 2005-10-14.jpg

London Midland plan to replace the region’s older trains, including the Class 150 units that operate the Snow Hill and Bedford-Bletchley lines

File:Tivedshambo 2006-03-12 Parry People Mover.jpg

Parry People Mover of the type to be used on the Stourbridge Branch Line

Fleet at end of franchise

London Midland’s fleet was composed of rolling stock inherited from Silverlink and Central Trains. They planned to improve the reliability and interior design the existing Class 153 and Class 170 trains, and install passenger information systems and CCTV on the majority of the fleet. They also intend to use automatic load-monitoring systems to measure how heavily their services are used, for the purpose of alleviating over-crowding.

As of 12 November 2007 there were already several units operating in the new livery and re-furbished green interior, but all of the Class 170 "Turbostar" units on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line and the Class 150 "Sprinter" units still carried their original liveries. The 150s in fact, do not have any branding any more. When Govia took over, they were more intent with removing "Central Trains" from units, than applying their name.

Class	Image	Type	Cars per set	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
				mph	km/h
Class 150/0 Sprinter	File:HPIM1405.JPG	diesel multiple unit	3	75	120	2	Snow Hill Lines	1984
Class 150/1 Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	2/3	75	120	14 3 car 10 2 car	Snow Hill Lines Bedford - Bletchley	1984-1987
Class 150/2 Sprinter	File:150245 at Cambridge.JPG	diesel multiple unit	2	75	120	2	Snow Hill Lines	1985-1987
Class 153 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	1	75	120	10	Stourbridge Branch Line Strengthening of any diesel services Coventry - Nuneaton	1987 - 1988
Class 170 Turbostar	File:Central Trains 170513 at Crewe 01.jpg	diesel multiple unit	2/3	100	160	17 2 car 6 3 car	Hereford - Birmingham Birmingham - Shrewsbury Birmingham to Stafford via Walsall	1999 – 2002
Class 321/4	File:321409 HarrowWealdstone.jpg	electric multiple unit	4	100	160	37	Birmingham - Northampton Birmingham International - Walsall London - Milton Keynes /Northampton	1989 – 1990
Class 323	File:London Midland Class 323.jpg	electric multiple unit	3	90	145	26	Lichfield - Redditch (The Cross City Line) Walsall - Birmingham Wolverhampton - Birmingham	1992
Class 350/1 Desiro		electric multiple unit	4	100	160	30	Liverpool - Birmingham Northampton - Birmingham London - Birmingham/Crewe	2004 - 2005

Future fleet

As part of its franchise agreement, London Midland is committed to a major programme of new rolling stock. In its initial plan, it announced that it would bring into service an additional 37 Class 350 units from Siemens which it plans to use in replacing its Class 321s. After beginning its operations, London Midland announced two further orders, with fifteen 3-car and twelve 2-car Class 172 Turbostar units ordered from Bombardier Transportation, together with a pair of Class 139 railcars from Parry People Movers for use on the Stourbridge line. When the two Class 139's enter service on the Stourbridge town line, the current Class 153 will be moved to the Bedford - Bletchley line. These will replace Class 150s on this route; the remainder of London Midland's Class 150s will be replaced like for like by the Class 172s. Under the government's rolling stock plan, the Class 150s will be cascaded to other TOC's.

Class	Type	Cars per set	Number	Introduced	Notes
Class 139	railcar diesel multiple unit	1	2	2008	Will replace the existing Class 153 DMU on the Stourbridge Town line by the end of 2008
Class 172/2 Turbostar	diesel multiple unit	2	12	2010	Will replace the existing Class 150
Class 172/3 Turbostar	diesel multiple unit	3	15	2010	Will replace the existing Class 150
Class 323	Electric multiple unit	3	17	2014	Cascaded from Northern to complement the existing 323's to create a uniform fleet and to help the Cross-City service become a complete 6-car service
Class 350/2 Desiro	electric multiple unit	4	37	2008	Will replace Class 321

See also

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• Central Trains
  • Central Citylink
• Silverlink

External links

• London Midland official website
• London Midland Route Map

Preceded by Central Trains Central franchise	Operator of West Midlands franchise 2007 - 2017	Succeeded by West Midlands Trains
Incumbent
	Preceded by Silverlink North London Railways franchise

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