London Midland
London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd. It is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands Franchise since 11 November 2007.
Their services operate 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).
Former Routes
In December 2008, London Midland discontinued the direct service between Walsall and Wolverhampton. Usage on the route was low, but growing, and a campaign existed to keep the service. The service was a priced option with the new West Midlands Franchise, but the Department for Transport decided not to provide funding from December 2008, and as a result the service ceased. London Midland advised that passengers should use a Travel West Midlands bus to make the journey. The rolling stock was re-allocated to run the new Worcester - Gloucester service.
This Worcester to Gloucester service (Every two hours, complementing the First Great Western Service to give an hourly service overall, off peak, All stops) was introduced as part of the December 2008 timetable change to improve transport links between the two areas as well as give an increased service at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. However, this service was withdrawn in December 2009 because of low passenger usage.
Performance
The most recent performance figures for London Midland to be released by the ORR for the third quarter of the financial year 2009/10 are 88.2% Public Performance Measure (up 4.7% on the same period last year). The MAA up to 31 December 2009 was 88.5% (up 1.1% since the last 12 month period).
Rollingstock
London Midland’s fleet is currently composed of rolling stock inherited from Silverlink and Central Trains. They have finished refurbishing the existing Class 153 Super Sprinter, Class 170 Turbostar and Class 323 multiple unit trains. They also intend to use automatic load-monitoring systems to measure how heavily their services are used, to alleviate over-crowding.
The first of the 37 new Desiro units arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Siemens Northampton depot. As of July 2009, they are all in service.
London Midland are to retain seven Class 321 EMU trains and these will feature on both the Watford Junction–St. Albans Abbey branch line and peak hour express services between Northampton and London Euston.
The two Class 139 railcars were due to enter service on the Stourbridge line with the start of the new timetable on 15 December 2008. However, delays in testing the units caused a delay in their introduction, with a replacement bus covering the route following the reallocation of the Class 153 originally used. The two railcars finally entered full passenger service in June 2009.
Future Fleet
As part of its franchise agreement, London Midland is committed to a major programme of new rolling stock. London Midland have ordered fifteen 3-car and twelve 2-car Class 172 Turbostar units from Bombardier Transportation, to replace their Class 150s. Under the government's rolling stock plan, the Class 150s will be cascaded to Northern Rail and First Great Western. As a direct result of the Class 150 cascade to Northern some of Northern's Class 156s will be released to East Midlands Trains.