21/10/2008
- New timetable brings huge improvements
- Faster journey times, new services and more seats
East Midlands Trains will be introducing a new timetable in December bringing passengers some of the biggest improvements in nearly a decade.
The new timetable, introduced on 14 December, will offer more trains on key routes, faster journey times, better connections and a more regular service across the whole network.
Highlights of the improvements are:
- Faster journey times to London
Passengers from Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derby, Leicester and Market Harborough will see significant improvements in journey times to London, with current journey times being slashed by between 10 and 15 minutes.
- More available seats to London
By better use of its fleet, the company will be able to offer more seats to London where they are most needed. Nottingham, Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough will all see a rise in the number of seats provided by between 700 and 2,000 more seats every weekday.
- Sunday services on the Robin Hood Line for the first time since the 1960s
For the first time since the 1960s, trains will run on a Sunday on the Robin Hood Line, offering a direct link between Mansfield, Nottingham and Worksop. This is a result of a partnership with local authorities, including Nottinghamshire County Council, who have long campaigned for this new service.
- New services linking Derby and Nottingham with Matlock and the Peak District
East Midlands Trains will be doubling the number of services it runs between Derby and Matlock improving the service to hourly. In addition, all services will run through to Nottingham. Not only will this provide a much-improved level of service for commuters, it will also link cities and towns in the region with the Peak District, helping to stimulate tourism in Derbyshire.
- More trains between Nottingham and Derby
The new Derby/Nottingham – Matlock service will see an increase in the number of trains between the two cities.
- More evening trains
The new timetable will see more evening trains on routes from London, Nottingham and Leicester.
- The first direct service from Lincoln to London
This brand new service will provide a direct train between Lincoln and London on weekdays and Saturdays. It will leave Lincoln at 07.08, arriving into the capital at 10.00, and return at 18.30, arriving back into Lincoln at 21.24. This service will also call at Collingham and Newark.
Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, said: "In addition to the very visible changes we are making, such as £90m of investment in refurbished fleet, depots and stations, 14 December sees a completely new, vastly improved timetable for our network.
"The number of passenger journeys by train has risen by over 75% since the last major timetable changes in the late 1990s. We believe December will see a better service for the majority of people who travel with East Midlands Trains offering more choice, more seats and bringing even more passengers to rail."
Copies of the new timetable will be available from Friday 14 November at East Midlands Trains’ stations and on the website, eastmidlandstrains.co.uk. Passengers can also register to receive their own personalised timetable when full details are released in November, register now on eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/myjourneys.
ENDS
For media enquiries and interviews, please contact:
East Midlands Trains Press Office
Tel: 01332 262010
For more information about Stagecoach Group, contact:
Steve Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications
Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
email: steven.stewart@stagecoachgroup.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Detailed press releases are available from the East Midlands Trains press office for all stations where improvements are taking place on our route.
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group is a leading international transportation group, with extensive bus and rail operations in the UK and North America. Stagecoach operates South West Trains, the UK's biggest commuter rail network with nearly 1,700 trains a day out of London Waterloo. In addition, Stagecoach has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates passenger rail services on the West Coast main line. Stagecoach is also Britain’s biggest tram operator, running systems in both Sheffield and Manchester.
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains operates high-speed long distance services from London St. Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham and regional services between Nottingham and Derby – Lincoln – Cleethorpes – Skegness, and between Derby and Crewe - Matlock and Norwich and Liverpool.
The franchise started on 11 November 2007 and will run until 31 March 2015, the last year and four months of which will be conditional upon achieving pre-set performance targets.
Highlights of improvements include faster journey times from Sheffield and Leicester to London from 2008, better performance, more seats, train refurbishment, investment at Derby’s Etches Park train maintenance depot, a centralised information and security centre, more car parking spaces and two new stations – at East Midlands Parkway and Corby.
