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TransPennine Express
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Franchise(s): | TransPennine Express 1. February 2004 – January 2012 |
| Main regions(s): | Pennines,North-East, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria |
| Other regions(s): | Glasgow,Edinburgh- December 2007 |
| Fleet size: | 45 (increasing to 60) |
| Stations: | 67 (30 operated) |
| Parent company: | First Group/Keolis |
| Web site: | www.tpexpress.co.uk |
TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates regular regional services in the north of England, including services linking the west and east coasts of England across the Pennines. The franchise has been granted for eight years to a joint operation by First Group and Keolis, with an optional extension of five years. It was created by removing most of the long-distance routes previously operated by Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western and merging them into a single franchise.
Launched on 1 February 2004, its services are split into three routes:
- North TransPennine: services run from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Middlesbrough, Scarborough and Hull, via Leeds and Huddersfield, to Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport, and Liverpool Lime Street
- South TransPennine: services run from Cleethorpes and Grimsby, via Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Sheffield, to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport
- North West: services from Windermere, Kendal, and Barrow-in-Furness, via Lancaster, Preston, and Bolton, to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport (which do not cross the Pennines). Additionally, Blackpool to Manchester Airport.
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TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running 24 hours a day, including through New Years Eve night. For example, trains run between York and Manchester Airport at least every two hours every night of the week.
The TransPennine Express control centre is in Bridgewater House, Manchester. The previous Arriva control centre was at York, and is now the Northern Rail control centre.
The off-peak weekday service pattern is as below.
The core route between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds sees four trains per hour between the two cities. This is made up of an hourly Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough service, an hourly Manchester Airport to Newcastle service, an hourly Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough service and an hourly Manchester Piccadilly to Hull service.
The Manchester to Liverpool sector is supplemented by Central Trains hourly service from Norwich to Liverpool, thus giving half hourly fast services between Manchester and Liverpool. Similarly, the service between Leeds and Newcastle is boosted by an hourly Virgin Trains service; York to Newcastle is also supplemented by GNER’s services. Both Virgin and GNER run faster (125mph vs 100mph), but have more restricted stopping patterns. It can be faster for passengers wishing to travel to Durham or Newcastle to change off TransPennine Express at York.
An hourly service operates from Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Mancester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Doncaster and Scunthorpe. The Manchester to Sheffield sector is supplemented by Central Trains hourly Liverpool to Norwich service, thus giving a half hourly fast service frequency between Manchester and Sheffield.
An hourly service operates between Manchester Airport and Lancaster, then continuing every two hours alternating between Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere, the latter via Oxenholme. Combining with Northern Rail’s twice-hourly service, this gives at least three trains per hour between Manchester Piccadilly and Preston. Recently (2006) services between Blackpool and Manchester have also moved to TransPennine Express. Additionally, the Manchester Piccadilly to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh service, operated by Virgin Trains, runs two-hourly between Manchester Piccadilly, Preston, Lancaster, and Oxenholme.
The franchise is currently operated with Class 158 and Class 185 diesel multiple units. In March 2006, new Class 185 units, constructed in Germany by Siemens, entered service and have taken over most services, except the Manchester - Hull service which has been switched back to Class 158 traction.
A new depot at Ardwick, about a mile east of Manchester Piccadilly is 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.
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 75mph east of Leeds. To solve this problem and create extra capacity across their network TransPennine Express will take on the nine-strong, lighter Class 170 Turbostar fleet currently used by South West Trains (SWT) on their Waterloo–Salisbury–Exeter services. In return SWT will receive six surplus Class 158 units from TransPennine Express which will be upgraded to the same standard as SWT's Class 159 units. The Class 170 Turbostars are to be refurbished to the same standard as the new Class 185 units and will used on Hull services. This move is expected to occur in Spring 2007.
New units are being delivered in the new First Great Western -style ‘neon’ livery. The first eight units were sent over in First’s old livery, and are were converted to the new one (see the photograph at the beginning of this article) using vinyl wraps. This is due to a change of heart on the original First Rail livery which was widely agreed as being 'dull'.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 158 Express Sprinter |  |
Diesel-Hydraulic Multiple Unit | 90 | 145 | 17 | As of Feb, 2007 Solely on Manchester Piccadilly - Hull. | 1989 - 1992 |
| Class 170 Turbostar |  |
Diesel-Hydraulic Multiple Unit | 100 | 160 | 9 | In service on the Manchester Piccadilly - Hull route. | 2000 |
| Class 185 Pennine |  |
Diesel-Hydraulic Multiple Unit | 100 | 160 | 51 | TransPennine routes except Manchester Piccadilly - Hull | 2005 - 2006 |
On 31 October 2006, it was announced that from December 2007, subject to contract, Transpennine Express will operate frequent services between Manchester Airport and Glasgow/Edinburgh, replacing the current Manchester Piccadilly-Scotland service provided by Virgin Cross Country. It was announced that the 100 mph Class 185s would be used to run the services, replacing the faster Class 220s and 221s currently used by Virgin, although there is currently much debate over whether they will have enough units to cover a frequent service to Scotland, and whether the 100mph units can be effectively timetabled to fit in with Virgin West Coast's 125mph Class 390-operated service on the predominantly double track WCML north of Preston. There is some rumour regarding the aquistion of Class 180s from First Great Western, which become available in December 2007.
In 2005, the company considered introducing a couple of High Speed Trains on the Manchester Piccadilly–Newcastle routes, to cope with high passenger numbers during the Royal Ascot at York event, but this was deemed to be too expensive.
A major uncertainty at the moment is if the 3-car 185 fleet cope will be able to cope with the growth in passenger numbers in the future. The addition of a fourth coach into some of the new trains is a possibility and has mentioned regularly by many sources, but the government are still assessing TransPennine Express's long-term viability before any more money is committed to the franchise.
From 10 December 2004, TransPennine Express changed its name to First TransPennine Express. However from November 2006 this was changed back to Transpennine Express, following complaints from Keolis.[citation needed]
| Preceded by Arriva Trains Northern ---- First North Western North Western franchise |
Operator of TransPennine Express franchise 2004-present |
Succeeded by N/A |
| Domestic: | Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains1 - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - Grand Central2 - GNER - Heathrow Connect Hull Trains - Island Line3 - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline1 - Northern Rail Northern Ireland Railways4 - 'one' - Silverlink1 - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains - TransPennine Express - Virgin Trains (VWC - VXC1) |
|---|---|
| International: | Enterprise4 - Eurostar |
| Airport Link: | Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express5 |
| Sleeper: | Caledonian Sleeper6 - Night Riviera7 |
| 1 Ends November 2007 - 2 Starts 20 May 2007 - 3 Operated by South West Trains 4 Operated on the Irish railway network - 5 Operated by 'one' - 6 Operated by First ScotRail 7 Operated by First Great Western |
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| Future passenger train operators and franchises in Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| New Franchises: | Cross Country1 - East Midlands1 - InterCity East Coast - London Overground1 West Midlands1 |
| Proposed open-access operators: |
Glasgow Trains2 - Grand Union2 - Humber & City2 - Wrexham & Shropshire3 |
| 1 Starts November 2007 - 2 Proposed - 3 Awaiting Approval | |