London Midland - London Midland Rolling Stock - B

London Midland - B

London Midland Rolling Stock

London Midland inherited a fleet of Class 150, Class 153, Class 170, Class 321, Class 323 and Class 350/1s from Central Trains and Silverlink.

One of the major franchise commitments was the replacement of the existing fleet of Class 150 and Class 321 units. Upon being awarded the franchise, London Midland ordered a total of 66 new trains of three different types, comprising two Class 139 Parry People Movers, 12 two-car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-car Class 350/2 Desiros.

All but three Class 150 units were cascaded to First Great Western (12 x two-car, 2 x three-car) and Northern Rail (18 x two-car) and the Class 321s to First Capital Connect (13) and National Express East Anglia (17). The Class 153, Class 170 and Class 323 units were all refurbished.

The first of the Class 350/2 units arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Northampton Kings Heath Siemens Depot. By July 2009, they were all in service.

London Midland was to lose all of its Class 321 units, but a change of plan saw it retain seven for use both on the Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey branch line and on peak-hour express services between Northampton/Milton Keynes Central/Tring-London Euston. The final seven units moved to Abellio ScotRail in 2015/16, and were replaced by seven Class 319s cascaded from Thameslink.

The two Class 139 railcars were due to enter service on the Stourbridge line with the start of the new timetable on 15 December 2008. However, problems in testing caused a delay in their introduction, with a replacement bus covering the route following the reallocation of the Class 153 originally used. The two railcars finally entered full passenger service in June 2009.

London Midland was to lose all of its Class 150 units, but a change in plan saw it retain three Class 150 units as additional capacity, following a statement from the Department for Transport on 10 August 2011. However, London Midland transferred two Class 153 units to First Great Western as a result. The other Class 150 units were transferred to First Great Western and Northern Rail.

During 2011, London Midland announced that it would be procuring a further 18 four-car Class 350 units, eight for itself and ten for sub-lease to First TransPennine Express. In February 2012, it was announced that 20 Class 350 units had been ordered by London Midland. Ten Class 350/3 units entered service with London Midland, and ten Class 350/4 units with First TransPennine Express.

The franchise agreement included the option of replacing the three remaining Class 150/1 in the fleet with six Class 153 units in June 2017. The Northern franchise agreement indicates this option has been taken up, as the London Midland Class 150 units transferred to Northern in 2017. The Northern franchise agreement also ruled out the option of any additional Class 323 units being leased from Porterbrook to London Midland before 1 January 2019. This option was not taken up as Northern kept its 323s.

In July 2016, London Midland and the West Midlands Combined Authority announced that it would run a year-long trial of the prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU on the Coventry to Nuneaton Line.

During January 2017, the trial was abruptly cancelled and the funding withdrawn by the West Midlands Combined Authority as a fire on the trial unit would have caused the trial to be impossible to complete before the end of the franchise.

London Midland Fleet at End of Franchise

• 139 Railcar

Stourbridge Town Branch Line[a]
2008

• 150/1 Sprinterb   DMU

Marston Vale Line
Snow Hill Lines
1984–1987

• 153 Super Sprinter

Marston Vale Line
Coventry–Nuneaton
Snow Hill Lines
Birmingham–Rugeley/Shrewsbury
1987–1988

• 170/5 & 170/6 Turbostar   DMU

Birmingham–Rugeley/Shrewsbury/Hereford
Snow Hill Lines
1999–2000

• 172/2 & 172/3 Turbostar

Snow Hill Lines
2011

• 319/0, 319/2 & 319/4   EMU

Abbey Line
Peak hour West Coast Main Line services
1987–1988

• 323   EMU

Redditch–Lichfield Trent Valley
Wolverhampton–Walsall via Birmingham
Birmingham–Birmingham International
1992–1995

• 350/1, 350/2 & 350/3 Desiro

London/Northampton–Birmingham
Birmingham–Liverpool
London–Tring/Milton Keynes/Northampton/Crewe
Wolverhampton–Walsall via Birmingham
2004–2014

London Midland Past Fleet

Former units operated by London Midland include:

• 321/4  EMU

1989–1990   2009–2015

London Midland Incidents

On 26 November 2015, an early morning commuter service caught fire during the morning commuter rush and passengers had to be evacuated at Lapworth Station.

London Midland Demise

In April 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Govia, MTR Corporation and a consortium of Abellio, East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Mitsui had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise.

The Invitation to Tender (ITT) was issued in August 2016 and the franchise was due to be awarded in June 2017. During July 2016, MTR Corporation announced its withdrawal from the bidding process.

During July 2017, the franchise was extended until 10 December 2017.   In August 2017, the franchise was awarded to the consortium led by Abellio. The new company, named West Midlands Trains, commenced operations on 10 December 2017.

London Midland Footnotes

^ Operated by Pre Metro Operations on behalf of London Midland. services were branded as London Midland.

London Midland Overview

London Midland Franchise(s): West Midlands
11 November 2007 – 10 December 2017
London Midland Main Region(s): West Midlands, London
London Midland Other Region(s): North West, East Midlands
London Midland Stations Called At: 178
London Midland Stations Operated: 146
London Midland Parent Company: Govia
London Midland Reporting Mark: LM
London Midland Predecessor: Central Trains
Silverlink
London Midland Successor: West Midlands Trains
London Midland Technical Length: 539.0 mi (867.4 km)