Central Trains

Central Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and cross-country trains in central England. The company’s operations are centred on Birmingham in the West Midlands.

On 19 October 2004, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that at the end of the current franchise in 2006, Central Trains’s routes will be divided between the Silverlink, Chiltern, Virgin Cross Country, Midland Mainline and Northern Rail franchises. The Northampton-Long Buckby-Coventry-Birmingham International-Birmingham New Street service was transferred to Central Trains from Silverlink in late 2004.

Rightly or wrongly (rightly in some cases if the statistics are correct), Central Trains have had a reputation on certain routes for poor service and reliability. Perhaps the most notorious (and lengthy) route is from Liverpool to Norwich (some 252 miles, a journey of over five hours), with long delays, overcrowding, lack of facilities (such as toilets and basic catering), cancellations and the like. Central Trains has gained a reputation for poor service: ‘Officially the worst…’ ^* however the service has improved greatly and is becoming more reliable.

Central Trains is owned by the National Express Group.

Fleet

When National Express Group took over Central Trains in 1997, the company started to dispose of its last 1960s ‘slam door’ trains. By 2000, two years ahead of the Government’s deadline, the trains were out of service.

Central Trains have taken delivery of 30 brand-new 100mph Class 350 Desiro units for use on the West Coast Mainline between Birmingham and Northampton/Liverpool. The additions are part of a £100 million investment by the SRA to improve comfort, convenience, speed and accessibility. For all the improvements, Central’s fleet (with its charter airline legroom and facilities) is unsuited for some of its longer routes.

The majority of Central Trains services are operated by diesel trains, as lines they operate (rather typically for the UK) are not electrified.

Diesel fleet

The company has several diesel multiple unit classes. The following types are used:

Electric fleet

Central Trains have several electric multiple unit classes. They consist of the following types:

4 Class 321 (units hired in from Silverlink)
26 Class 323
30 Class 350 Desiro (these units are shared with Silverlink County for use on a WCML service from Liverpool to Euston stopping service via Tamworth)

Network

Central Trains serves 232 stations in the Midlands, North West and East Anglia. Most services are operated in Central Trains colours except for services in the West Midlands county which operate under contract to Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive and operate in the Centro livery. The most notable of these services is the Birmingham Cross-City Line which operates from Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield through Birmingham to Redditch The firm operates 193 stations. The main towns and cities it serves are:

The future

It was announced in October 2005 that the Central franchise will end in April 2007 (later extended to November 2007), as part of a programme to reduce the number of franchises in the Midlands - Central trains will be replaced by Cross Country (a slightly expanded from current size), West Midlands (along with Silverlink) and East Midlands (along with Midland Mainline). The Department for Transport (DfT) issued in June 2006 the first franchise draft documents for a 60 day public consultation period, covering the three franchise outline above.

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 shall also be painted in the same livery.

External links

Post-privatisation British railway companies | National Express Group Companies