Midland Mainline was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the Midland Main Line franchise between April 1996 and November 2007. It was owned by the British transport company National Express.
Midland Mainline took over operations of the franchise from the state-owned operator InterCity in April 1996. Originally intended to run for ten years, a two-year extension was awarded in exchange for greater investment into new rolling stock and the provision of an hourly service to Leeds. To facilitate the Project Rio services, 23 HST power cars and associated Mark 3 carriages were transferred from Virgin CrossCountry to Midland Mainline. During February 2002, Midland Mainline ordered sixteen four-carriage and seven nine-carriage Class 222 Meridian trains, the first of which entered service in May 2004. These new trainsets allowed for several HSTs to be released to other operators, such as First Great Western and Great North Eastern Railway (GNER).
Midland Mainline ran fast and semi-fast passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line. Most services ran between London St Pancras and either , or . Some services extended to , , , , and . Midland Mainline operated at twenty-seven stations, of which it managed eight. In June 2007, the DfT awarded the franchise to rival company Stagecoach; accordingly, the services operated by Midland Mainline were transferred to East Midlands Trains on 11 November 2007.
History
The Midland Mainline franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to National Express for a period of ten years with operations commencing on 28 April 1996. In May 1999, Midland Mainline was able to extend its sphere of operation after receiving new rolling stock. In August 2000, the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority awarded a two-year extension in return for National Express committing to invest in the operator, including the ordering of new rolling stock and the running of an hourly service to Leeds.
Service patterns
The off peak service pattern, upon conclusion of the franchise in November 2007, consisted of four departures per hour from London St Pancras. There were two fast and two semi-fast trains per hour. All Midland Mainline services (except The Master Cutler morning up service) called at Leicester with the fastest journey time to and from London of one hour and nine minutes. The services between London, Luton and Bedford supplemented the high frequency Thameslink and later First Capital Connect commuter service.
Limited services
Midland Mainline operated a limited service between St Pancras and Leeds, with three early morning departures from Leeds and four evening return trips from St Pancras. This was principally because Midland Mainline's HSTs were maintained at Neville Hill depot. The timings did not compare favourably with the principal service from London King's Cross to Leeds along the East Coast Main Line with the Midland Main Line having a much slower line speed. The journey time on the Midland route was around three hours and 15 minutes vs two hours and 15 minutes via the East Coast.
In July 1996, a bus service between Kettering and Corby was introduced.
From May 1999, a small number of through trains from St Pancras to Burton upon Trent and Barnsley were introduced as well as stops at Belper and Meadowhall.
From May 2000, through trains between St Pancras and Matlock were introduced, ceasing in December 2004 when Class 222s were introduced, as they were not allowed on the Derwent Valley Line branch line. That same month, Midland Mainline also began operating one Saturday service between St Pancras and York via Doncaster; in summer, it would continue to Scarborough. On Sunday, a service to York started at Leicester, with the return service being via the Erewash Valley Line to Nottingham, where it reversed before proceeding to St Pancras.
A small number of trains operated between St Pancras and Sheffield via Nottingham and along the Erewash Valley Line to Chesterfield serving Langley Mill and Alfreton.
Project Rio
From May 2003 until September 2004, Midland Mainline operated an hourly service between St Pancras and Manchester Piccadilly; this was at the request of the Strategic Rail Authority whilst the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Manchester underwent engineering work using former Virgin CrossCountry High Speed Trains. This temporary service was named Project Rio after the similarity of the route to footballer Rio Ferdinand's recent transfer movements. He first transferred from West Ham United to Leeds United, then later crossed the Pennines in a £30 million record transfer to Manchester United.