Franchise(s):	Central 2nd March 1997 – 11th November 2007
Main Region(s):	Midlands (East, West)
Other Region(s):	North West, East Anglia
Fleet size:	156
Stations called at:	232 (193 operated)
National Rail abbreviation:	CT
Parent company:	National Express Group
Web site:	www.centraltrains.co.uk

Central Trains rolling stock at Liverpool Lime Street railway station

Central Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and long-distance services in central England. The company’s operations are centred on Birmingham in the West Midlands. Image File history File links Central_trains_logo. ... Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 645 KB)BR Class 170, no. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. ... The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the Midlands. ... North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... National Express Group plc (LSE: NEX) is a UK-based transport group that operates airport, bus and rail services in the UK, the US and Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 854 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph of a Central Trains rolling stock about to depart from Liverpool Lime Street railway station taken in March 2007 File history Legend: (cur) = this... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 854 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph of a Central Trains rolling stock about to depart from Liverpool Lime Street railway station taken in March 2007 File history Legend: (cur) = this... The main entrance to Liverpool Lime Street Station Liverpool Lime Street railway station on Lime Street is the mainline railway station serving Liverpool, England. ... National Rail uses the BR double arrow logo National Rail is a brand name describing the passenger rail service previously provided by British Rail, the now defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the British city. ... The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. ...

The longer-distance services are branded as Central Citylink. A map of the four Central Trains Citylink routes. ...

Overview

The franchise covers 1,305 miles (2,100 km) of railway, and has more than 43 million passenger journeys per year, travelling a total of 930 million miles (1,495 million km).

On 19 October 2004, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that at the end of the current franchise in 2006, Central Trains’ routes will be divided between the Silverlink, Chiltern, Virgin Cross Country, Midland Mainline and Northern Rail franchises.^[1] The end of the franchise has now been delayed until November 2007 (See The Future). is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alistair Maclean Darling (born November 28, 1953) is a British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer since June 28, 2007. ... In law, an exclusive right is the power or right to perform an action in relation to an object or other thing which others cannnot perform. ... Silverlink Train Services Ltd is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, with routes in North London and from London to Northampton, previously to Birmingham via Coventry prior to 2005. ... Chiltern Railways is a train operating company in England. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Midland Mainline (MML) is a British train operating company owned by the National Express Group, created after the privatisation of British Rail. ... Northern Rail is a train operating company that has operated local services in the north of England since 2004. ... Central Trains rolling stock at Liverpool Lime Street railway station Central Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and long-distance services in central England. ...

From a low pre-privatisation base, the company now has £74 million worth of new trains, replacing the slam-door rolling stock it inherited with the modern Class 350 ‘Desiros’, which it shares with sister-company Silverlink. It has also refurbished many of its stations, introducing ticket gates and live information boards, and clamped down on vandalism on its trains. Silverlink Train Services Ltd is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, with routes in North London and from London to Northampton, previously to Birmingham via Coventry prior to 2005. ...

Central Trains is owned by the National Express Group, and employs over 2,400 staff.^[2] National Express Group plc (LSE: NEX) is a UK-based transport group that operates airport, bus and rail services in the UK, the US and Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe. ...

In 2006 the company took the step of producing posters with lists of names and addresses of those who had been fined for ticket evasion.^[3]

Network

Central Trains serves 232 stations in the Midlands, North East, North West, Yorkshire and East Anglia. Most services are operated in Central Trains colours except for services in the West Midlands county which operate under contract to Network West Midlands, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive and operate in their livery. These are the main services they operate: This article does not cite any references or sources. ... North-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and a small part of North Yorkshire. ... North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the regions of England. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. ... Centro Logo The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), better known as Centro, is the public body (Passenger Transport Executive) responsible for promoting and co-ordinating public transport services throughout the West Midlands county in England. ... The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), better known as Centro, is the Passenger Transport Executive responsible for promoting and co-ordinating public transport services throughout the West Midlands county in England. ...

"Citylink" Services

See Main article A map of the four Central Trains Citylink routes. ...

A map of the Citylink routes

• Birmingham New Street - Liverpool Lime Street
• Birmingham New Street - Preston (one evening peak service Northbound, no Southbound service)
• Birmingham New Street - Stansted Airport
• Cardiff Central - Nottingham
• Liverpool - Norwich via Manchester & Nottingham

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Regional Services

• West Coast Mainline : Northampton - Crewe/Preston
• Birmingham New Street - Shrewsbury
• Birmingham New Street - Coventry - Northampton
• Birmingham New Street - Nuneaton - Leicester
• Nuneaton - Coventry
• Doncaster / Lincoln Central - Peterborough via Spalding
• Newark North Gate - Lincoln - Grimsby/Cleethorpes
• Leicester - Lincoln Central
• Nottingham - Skegness
• Derby - Matlock
• Derby - Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent
• Derby - Nottingham
• Birmingham - Nottingham
• Nottingham - Leicester
• Nottingham - Mansfield Woodhouse / Worksop
• Stafford - Hanley via Stoke-on-Trent (Bus service)

Network West Midlands Services

• Birmingham - Wolverhampton
• Chase Line : Birmingham - Walsall / Stafford
• Walsall - Wolverhampton
• Cross City Line : Redditch/Longbridge - Four Oaks/Lichfield Trent Valley
• Snow Hill Lines : Great Malvern/Kidderminster - Dorridge/Shirley/Stratford-upon-Avon

Centro Logo The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), better known as Centro, is the public body (Passenger Transport Executive) responsible for promoting and co-ordinating public transport services throughout the West Midlands county in England. ...

Performance

Considering the difficulties with which Central Trains must contend, including sharing tracks with so many other operators, Central Trains has not performed too badly recently. The latest figures released by the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) rate Central Trains' performance at 87.8% for the PPM (Public Performance Measure) over the first quarter of the financial year 2007/8^[4]. This is an improvement over the same period last year, during which they achieved 86.1%.

Rolling Stock

When National Express Group took over Central Trains in 1997, the company started to dispose of its last 1960s and 70s ‘slam door’ trains. By 2000, all older trains were out of service,^[5] and the franchise operated a fleet of one and two carriage Diesel multiple unit railcars, mostly inherited from Regional Railways, the division of British Rail that preceded Central. DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in PoznaÅ„, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages... Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1981 that existed until 1996 a year before Privatisation. ... This article is about the defunct entity British Railways, which later traded as British Rail. The History of rail transport in Great Britain is covered in its own article. ...

These 'Sprinters' were introduced during the 1980s, in line with a policy of replacing locomotive-hauled trains with shorter but more frequent single class rail car services. Soon after the franchise was awarded in March 1997, 33 new Class 170 100mph air-conditioned Turbostar trains were ordered.

Central Trains have recently taken delivery of 30 new 100mph Class 350 Desiro units, which are shared with Silverlink County for use on the West Coast Main Line between Euston and Northampton/Liverpool via Tamworth. The additions are part of a £100 million investment by the SRA to improve comfort, convenience, speed and accessibility. 350120 passing Kingsthorpe, just north of Northampton station, on the 22nd April 2007, with a Birmingham bound service 350110 at Stafford departing for Birmingham, 29 October 2005 The British Rail Class 350 Desiro electrical multiple units were built by Siemens AG from 2004-2005. ... Silverlink Trains is a regional franchise in the British railway system with routes in suburban London and from London to Northampton. ... The WCML running alongside the M1 motorway at Watford Gap in Northamptonshire A Virgin Pendolino and freight train on the WCML The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ...

In conjunction with the new timetable (21st May 2007), it was announced that Central Trains had acquired 9 Class 158 Sprinters from TransPennine Express giving the network an extra 36 carriages. These can already be seen in service and will act as extensions to busy services and short notice standbys. They will be re-branded as Central Trains fleet but will also remain in their TransPennine Express liveries. TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ...

The majority of Central Trains services are operated by diesel trains, as lines they operate are not electrified. // Railway electrification in Great Britain describes the various electrification systems that are used, or have been used, for supplying traction current to the railways and tramways of Great Britain. ...

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 150 Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	34	Network West Midlands (non-electro) Dorridge/Shirley/Stratford Upon Avon/Leamington Spa - Worcester/Great Malvern/Hereford The British Rail Class 150 Sprinter diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by BREL from 1984-87. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 596 pixelsFull resolution (2576 × 1920 pixels, file size: 1. ... DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in Poznań, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages...	1984-1987
Class 153 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	16	Lincolnshire Rural Services , Coventry-Nuneaton And Stourbridge Branch Line	1987 - 1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	75	120	11	Local Mid-Distance Service	1987 - 1989
Class 158 Express Sprinter		diesel multiple unit	90	145	21	Mostly Routes in the East Midlands	1989 - 1992
Class 170 Turbostar		diesel multiple unit	100	160	53	On almost all Central Trains' routes	1999 - 2002
Class 321		electric multiple units	100	160	4	Birmingham - Northampton Birmingham International - Walsall Class 153, no. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 596 pixelsFull resolution (2576 × 1920 pixels, file size: 1. ... DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in Poznań, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages... The British Rail Class 156 Super-Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixels, file size: 866 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Central Trains Class 156 DMU 156403 at Birmingham New Street railway station with a service to Walsall, if the destination indicator is to be believed. ... DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in Poznań, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages... A British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit, built from 1989-92 by BREL at Derby Works. ... Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 643 KB)BR Class 158, no. ... DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in Poznań, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages... The Class 170 Turbostar is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) built by Bombardier Transportation (previously ADtranz) at their Derby Litchurch Lane Works, England. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixels, file size: 955 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Please see User:Thryduulf/Relicensing if you wish to use this image under a different license. ... DMU, type SA108 of Great Poland Voivodship in Poznań, Poland The Transwa Prospector DEMU capable of up to 200 km/h provides a passenger service between Perth, Western Australia and the mining town of Kalgoorlie A Diesel Multiple Unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages... Class 321/3, no. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1712x1243, 217 KB)BR Class 321/4, no. ... A classic Belgian multiple unit of type 74 A multiple unit is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive. ...	1988 - 1991
Class 323		electric multiple units	90	145	26	Cross City Lines	1992 - 1993
Class 350 Desiro		electric multiple units	100	160	301	Liverpool - Birmingham , Northampton - Birmingham / Crewe	2004 - 2005

1. Built for Central Trains and Silverlink regional express services and Central Citylink services on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.

323242 departs Longbridge 1 September 2005 Class 323, no. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 220 KB) Summary Author: Andrew Maycock source: http://midlandrailpics. ... A classic Belgian multiple unit of type 74 A multiple unit is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive. ... 350120 passing Kingsthorpe, just north of Northampton station, on the 22nd April 2007, with a Birmingham bound service 350110 at Stafford departing for Birmingham, 29 October 2005 The British Rail Class 350 Desiro electrical multiple units were built by Siemens AG from 2004-2005. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 166 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Author: Andrew Maycock 29th October 2005 at Stafford departing for Brimingham source: http://midlandrailpics. ... A classic Belgian multiple unit of type 74 A multiple unit is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive. ... A map of the four Central Trains Citylink routes. ... The WCML running alongside the M1 motorway at Watford Gap in Northamptonshire A Virgin Pendolino and freight train on the WCML The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ...

The future

It was announced in October 2005 that the Central franchise would end in April 2007 (later extended to November 2007^[6]), as part of a programme to reduce the number of franchises in the Midlands.^[1] Central Trains will be split into three parts, each of which will be amalgamated with another franchise:

• West Midlands - this will include Silverlink County, and will take over Central's services West of Leicester and Nottingham. This will be operated by London Midland, a new rail franchise owned by Govia.
• East Midlands - this will include Midland Mainline, and will take over Central's services on the Midland Main Line and East of Nottingham. This will be operated by East Midlands Trains, a new rail franchise owned by Stagecoach Group.
• Cross-Country - this will encompass Virgin Cross-Country, and will be slightly expanded from its current size by taking over the Nottingham to Cardiff, the Birmingham to Stansted "Citylink" services, and the Hereford/Nottingham service. From 11th November 2007 Cross-Country Services will be operated by Arriva rather than Virgin Trains.

The future of the problematic Liverpool to Norwich service now appears relatively secure: previous suggestions to split the service into two separate services between Liverpool and Nottingham, and Nottingham and Norwich, have been abandoned,^[7] and the service will become part of the East Midlands franchise. Silverlink Train Services Ltd is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, with routes in North London and from London to Northampton, previously to Birmingham via Coventry prior to 2005. ... Midland Mainline (MML) is a British train operating company owned by the National Express Group, created after the privatisation of British Rail. ... The Midland Main Line is a main railway line in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ... A Class 220 Voyager at Bristol. ... A map of the four Central Trains Citylink routes. ...

Recently Central Trains in the Centro area, which covers the West Midlands, Class 150s have been repainted in a livery similar to the Central Trains services. However, it is not known if the Class 323s will also be painted in the same livery.

New livery for trains in Centro Area

It was announced on Thursday 21 June 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including Snow Hill lines), will be run under a new franchise operated by London Midland^[8] whose parent company is Govia. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 596 pixelsFull resolution (2576 × 1920 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 596 pixelsFull resolution (2576 × 1920 pixels, file size: 1. ... London Midland is the brand name of the train operating company who will operate the new West Midlands railway franchise in England. ... Govia is a joint venture between Go-Ahead (65 per cent) and Keolis SA (35 per cent). ...

It was announced on Thursday 22 June 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including local services in the East Midlands), will be run under a new franchise operated by East Midlands Trains^[9][10] whose parent company is Stagecoach Group. East Midlands Trains is a train operating company, based in Derby, that will operate railway services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas. ... Stagecoach Group plc (LSE: SGC) is a leading international transport group operating bus, train, tram, express coach and ferry operations. ...

It was announced on 10th of July 2007 that many of Central Trains services (including Cardiff - Nottingham, Birmingham - Stanstead Airport and Hereford - Nottingham), will be run under a new franchise operated by CrossCountry^[11] whose parent company is Arriva. CrossCountry is a new train operating company that will operate the Cross-Country rail franchise from November 2007. ... An Arriva train in Denmark Arriva plc is a UK-based international public transport operator and vehicle rental company, headquartered in Sunderland. ...

This will come into action as of Sunday 11 November. Central Trains will not run any more train services for the Midlands and beyond and it will cease trading as a company from this date.^[12]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Central Trains

• Central Trains website
• National Express Group website
• A Year at Central Trains (diary)
• Department For Transport Railways page