First TransPennine Express is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It is a joint operation between
First Group (55%) and
Keolis (45%). It operates regular services in the north including services linking the west and east coasts of England across the
Pennines. The franchise will run for eight years with an optional extension of five years.
The original service and brand name TransPennine Express was launched in late 1998 by Northern Spirit, and maintained by its successor, Arriva Trains Northern. On 1 February 2004, the service became a separate franchise, also incorporating the
Manchester Airport to
Cumbria and
Lakelines (Oxenholme to Windermere) routes from
First North Western but minus the
Bradford to
Blackpool service. TransPennine Express later took over the
Manchester Airport to
Blackpool service.
First TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running
24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. For example, trains run between
York and
Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week, and usually every hour between
Leeds and
Manchester.
Class 185 Pennine First TransPennine TrainFirst TransPennine Express services are split into three routes:
North TransPennineThe 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 Huddersfield to Leeds section is the most busy section on any TransPennine Express service.
The
Manchester to
Liverpool sector is supplemented by
East Midlands Trains' hourly service from Norwich and a Northern Rail hourly Liverpool to Manchester Airport express service (which runs via Newton-le-Willows rather than Warrington), thus giving three fast services between Manchester and Liverpool per hour. Similarly, the service between Leeds and Newcastle is boosted by an hourly CrossCountry service;
York to
Newcastle is also supplemented by National Express East Coast and CrossCountry services.
It can be faster for passengers wishing to travel to
Durham or
Newcastle to board a
Middlesbrough or
Scarborough bound train and to change at York as both National Express East Coast and CrossCountry run faster trains (125mph vs 100mph) and skip many smaller stations. It can also be quicker for passengers from Manchester Airport or Manchester Piccadilly wanting Durham or Newcastle to travel to Sheffield and then pick up a CrossCountry service to their intended destination.
Under Arriva Trains Northern and Northern Spirit, the Newcastle service used to continue to Sunderland. Trains between Newcastle and Sunderland are now provided by Northern Rail. Likewise, the Bradford to Blackpool route is still available, but is provided by Northern Rail and journeys continue to York. When First and Keolis first took over the service they extended the Manchester to Hull service to Bridlington, which they now no longer do.
South TransPennineAn hourly service operates from Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Doncaster and Sc**thorpe. The Manchester to Sheffield sector is supplemented by East Midlands Trains hourly Liverpool to Norwich service, thus giving a half hourly fast service frequency between Manchester and Sheffield.
Transpennine North WestNorth West services are further split into Blackpool and Cumbria/Scotland routes.
BlackpoolFirst TransPennine Express now run an hourly service from Manchester Airport and Blackpool. Northern Rail also run a train between Blackpool and Stockport and beyond every hour; however, these services will cease to operate through Manchester Piccadilly from 14th December 2008, but will run Manchester Victoria-Blackpool North and return.
Transpennine Cumbria & ScotlandFirst TransPennine Express took over the Manchester Airport to Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere services from First North Western. They reduced the number of stops which some trains made, to make them more of an express service.
In December 2007 TransPennine Express axed the two hourly service between
Manchester Airport and
Windermere. Windermere trains now start and terminate at Preston or are joined to another service between Manchester Airport and Preston, though the latter is less common. There is still, however, an hourly service between
Oxenholme and
Windermere and a two hourly service between
Manchester Airport and
Barrow-in-Furness.
TransPennine Express also took over the route between
Manchester Airport and Edinburgh/Glasgow (formerly operated by Virgin CrossCountry). These trains run in the time slot that the Windermere service used to have and call at more stations than the Virgin service to help compensate for the loss of the Windermere service. Because the Class 185s are smaller and have a lower top speed than the previous Voyagers and fewer trains run overall, trains are susceptible to overcrowding. Whilst the 185s have a lower top speed, the actual increase in journey time on Scottish services is minimal as the length of stops at stations such as
Preston and
Lancaster has been reduced.
First TransPennine Express Class 170 at HuddersfieldThe franchise is operated with Class 185 and Class 170 diesel multiple units. When first created the franchise operated a mixed fleet of Class 158 (inherited from Arriva Trains Northern) and Class 175 (originally from First North Western, but sub-leased from Arriva Trains Wales).
In March 2006 new three-car Class 185 units, constructed in Germany by
Siemens, began to enter service and took over most services. A new depot at
Ardwick, about a mile east of
Manchester Piccadilly was built as 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. The Class 185 units were delivered in the First Group 'neon-style' livery. The "i" in the logo of
Keolis is used as the 'i' in the TransPennine Express logo in addition to the FirstGroup 'flyling f' logo. The first eight units were sent over in First’s old livery, and were converted to the new one (see the photograph at the beginning of this article) using vinyl wraps. The arrival of the Class 185 allowed the Class 175 units to be returned to Arriva Trains Wales.
The Class 185 trains proved popular with off-peak travellers although these satisfaction levels decrease for passengers undertaking long-distance journeys and at peak-times.
Despite the 185s being bigger than 2 car 158s, 185s frequently leave passengers behind due to severe overcrowding at peak times. Projected passenger numbers will likely mean 100-125mph 8 car units are needed by 2014.
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 (120km/h) east of
Leeds. To solve this problem and create extra capacity across their network First TransPennine Express has started to take on a nine-strong fleet of lighter Class 170 Turbostar units formerly used by
South West Trains (SWT) on their
Waterloo–Salisbury–Exeter services. In return SWT has received eleven surplus Class 158 units from TransPennine Express which will be upgraded to the same standard as SWT's Class 159 units. TransPennine Express have also since received one additional 170 formerly used by Central Trains. The two-car Class 170 Turbostars are being used solely on
Manchester-Hull services and have since been refurbished to include CCTV, plug sockets at table seats, replacement seat covers and an accessible toilet. They have also had 8 first class seats removed and had 13 standard class seats inserted in their place.
Current fleetClass 170 Turbostar
Class 185 Pennine
Past fleetClass 158 Express Sprinter
Class 175 Coradia
Class 185 Pennine is seen here in the old First livery, departing Leeds City station during testing trials on 15 January 2006TransPennine Express had maintained an ambition to increase its fleet capacity by adding an extra carriage to some or all of its Class 185 units. However, on December 22 2008, the Department for Transport announced it had issued an invitation to tender for 200 new carriages to form diesel multiple units, some of which are for TransPennine Express, to Bombardier Transportation, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Chinese Sourced Railway Equipment on behalf of CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock, and Hyundai Rotem, with Siemens not included. The DfT expects to announce its preferred bidder in April 2009 and the units to enter service by 2012. The invitation to tender follows the issuing of a Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union which outlined the scope of the contract to be the supply of between 200 and 250 new DMU vehicles with an option for a further 100. The Contract Notice specifies that those parties expressing in an interest must have the ability to design and manufacture DMUs which are 23 metres in length, capable of a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), formed of 2, 3, and/or 4 cars, capable of operation in multiple, and gangwayed throughout, both within units and units in multiple.
PerformanceThe latest figures to be released by the ORR for the first quarter of the financial year 2008/9 were up slightly (0.5%) on last year at 92.4% (PPM) and also up 0.1% for MAA at 91.8%. [9] These figures are slightly above the sector level for this quarter.
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