Transpennine Express
First TransPennine Express is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It is a joint operation between First Group (55%) and Keolis (45%). It operates regular services in the north including services linking the west and east coasts of England across the Pennines. The franchise will run for eight years with an optional extension of five years.
The original service and brand name TransPennine Express was launched in late 1998 by Northern Spirit, and maintained by its successor, Arriva Trains Northern. On 1 February 2004, the service became a separate franchise, also incorporating the Manchester Airport to Cumbria and Lakelines (Oxenholme to Windermere) routes from First North Western but minus the Bradford to Blackpool service. TransPennine Express later took over the Manchester Airport to Blackpool service.
First TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. For example, trains run between York, Leeds and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week.
Rollingstock
The franchise is operated with Class 185 and Class 170 diesel multiple units. When first created, the franchise operated a mixed fleet of Class 158 (inherited from Arriva Trains Northern) and Class 175 (originally from First North Western, but sub-leased from Arriva Trains Wales).
In March 2006 new three-car Class 185 units, constructed in Germany by Siemens, began to enter service and took over most services. A new depot at Ardwick, about a mile east of Manchester Piccadilly was built as the base for the Class 185 fleet. A smaller depot, to provide stabling and lighter maintenance east of the Pennines, has been built at York and another at Cleethorpes. The Class 185 units were delivered in the First Group 'neon-style' livery. The "i" in the logo of Keolis is used as the 'i' in the TransPennine Express logo in addition to the FirstGroup 'flyling f' logo. The first eight units were sent over in First’s old livery, and were converted to the new one (see the photograph at the beginning of this article) using vinyl wraps. The arrival of the Class 185 allowed the Class 175 units to be returned to Arriva Trains Wales.
The Class 185 trains proved popular with off-peak travellers although these satisfaction levels decrease for passengers undertaking long-distance journeys and at peak-times.
Despite the 185s being bigger than 2 car 158s, 185s frequently leave passengers behind due to severe overcrowding at peak times. Projected passenger numbers will likely mean 100–125 mph 8 car units are needed by 2014.
It was planned to operate all services with the new Class 185 units. However, weight restrictions on the Hull-Leeds line mean the Class 185 units are limited to 65–75 mph (120 km/h) east of Micklefield. To solve this problem and create extra capacity across their network First TransPennine Express has started to take on a nine-strong fleet of lighter Class 170 Turbostar units, 8 of which were formerly used by South West Trains (SWT) on their Waterloo–Salisbury–Exeter services. In return SWT has received eleven surplus Class 158 units from TransPennine Express which will be upgraded to the same standard as SWT's Class 159 units. TransPennine Express have also since received one additional 170 (170309) formerly used by Central Trains, and numbered 170399 whilst there. The two-car Class 170 Turbostars are being used solely on Manchester-Hull services and have since been refurbished to include CCTV, plug sockets at table seats, replacement seat covers and an accessible toilet. They have also had 8 first class seats removed and had 13 standard class seats inserted in their place.
Currently (May 2009) a few Class 170-operated services run beyond the core Hull - Manchester route. One early morning service from Hull works through to Liverpool Lime Street with a return service in the evening, and a later departure from Hull forms an evening service from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport. They also work certain services from Manchester to Sheffield to enable Sheffield crews to retain traction knowledge, and on Sundays they often visit York. Only Hull, Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly based train crews are trained to work class 170 stock, limiting their appearance on other routes.
The class 170s are maintained at Crofton depot, east of Wakefield, but may visit Ardwick on occasion for wheel turning, fuelling, or for emptying of the toilet waste tanks. However, none of the Ardwick depot drivers are trained to move them, and thus a TPE driver has to move them around the depot complex.
Whilst the class 170s initially suffered poor reliability, concerted efforts by maintenance staff at FTPE have raised their miles per casualty figures close to the levels recorded for the class 185 fleet.
As of September 2009, Class 170s run on the South Transpennine route between Cleethorpes and Manchester Airport (one diagram using 2 170's per day Sunday to Thursday).
Future Fleet
TransPennine Express had maintained an ambition to increase its fleet capacity by adding an extra carriage to some or all of its Class 185 units. However, on December 22, 2008, the Department for Transport announced it had issued an invitation to tender for 200 new carriages to form diesel multiple units, some of which are for TransPennine Express, to Bombardier Transportation, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Chinese Sourced Railway Equipment on behalf of CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock, and Hyundai Rotem, with Siemens not included.[5] The DfT expects to announce its preferred bidder in April 2009 and the units to enter service by 2012. The invitation to tender follows the issuing of a Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union which outlined the scope of the contract to be the supply of between 200 and 250 new DMU vehicles with an option for a further 100. The Contract Notice specifies that those parties expressing in an interest must have the ability to design and manufacture DMUs which are 23 metres in length, capable of a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), formed of 2, 3, and/or 4 cars, capable of operation in multiple, and gangwayed throughout, both within units and units in multiple.
On the 23 July 2009, the DfT announced major changes to electrification policy, which meant that the order for new DMU vehicles would be shelved. Following the planned electrification of the Manchester to Liverpool line, services between Manchester and Scotland will be operated by four-carriage Class 350 electric multiple units which are currently operating services on the West Coast Main Line with London Midland from London Euston. This will enable the diesel trains currently used on the Manchester to Scotland services to be transferred onto other TransPennine Express routes.