Network Rail awards key contract for £53m Anglia freight upgrade. Plans for a £53m investment in the rail infrastructure in Anglia – which will ultimately help take around 750,000 lorry journeys off the road every year – have moved a step closer as Network Rail announces its design partner for the works, Jacobs Engineering. As part its plan to build a bigger and better railway Network Rail is upgrading the route from Felixstowe to Nuneaton via Ely, Peterborough and Leicester. Jacobs Engineering will work with Network Rail to design the two major elements needed to increase capacity between Ipswich and Peterborough:

Source and full story Network Rail Press Release 5th February 2010.

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East Midlands Trains has won a Golden Whistle award for improving safety – despite figures showing a 15.5 per cent rise in accidents. East Midlands Trains scooped the gong for the most improved operational safety over the 12 months to December 2009 at a ceremony in London. Figures from the independent safety watchdog the Office of Rail Regulation show 97 accidents flagged up by EMT across its network in 2009, compared to 84 the previous year. The data includes a train collision in sidings, failure to evacuate passengers, fires and staff and customer slips and falls onboard trains and on platforms. EMT spokesman Emma Knight said the figures include passenger trips on platforms which were beyond the company's control.

Source East Midlands Trains 2nd February 2010.

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New East Coast timetable unveiled. The government run East Coast has released a new timetable for services on the East Coast Mainline. The new timetable, which is called Eureka, has been designed to add more capacity to the network.

Source and full details RTMJobs 22nd January 2010.

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East Midlands Trains meet the manager. Once again at various locations you can meet EMTs managers. See here for details.

Source East Midlands Trains 20th January 2010.

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Red Dot Day. East Midlands Parkway station has a "Red Dot Day" on Saturday 30 January 2010. For one day only, unlimited travel will be available from East Midlands Parkway station to anywhere on the East Midlands Trains network for just £10, children £5.

Source East Midlands Trains January 2010.

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Campaign to cut risks being taken at level crossings. Network Rail's 'Would It Kill You To Wait' scheme saw the rail firm take to Boston's (Lincolnshire) West Street crossing to spread the safety message last week - after reports of people jumping gates and motorists swerving barriers to avoid having to wait for trains.

Source and full story Boston Standard 22nd December 2009.

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The East Midlands Minister Philip Hope is backing a campaign to electrify the Midland Main Line, to boost the economy, tackle congestion and protect the environment. An electric train service from London to the East Midlands and Sheffield could boost the regions’ economies by up to £19 million per year, campaigners will tell a meeting at Westminster next Tuesday (December 15th).

Source EMRA 11th December 2009.

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A rail link between Lincoln and London could see seven trains each way on week days. The Government-owned East Coast Main Line Company Ltd is set to begin running services between Lincoln and Kings Cross. Services are likely to run every two hours Mon-Fri and will travel via Newark and Peterborough. The Service could start towards the end of 2010.

Source East Coast Trains 28th November 2009.

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East Midlands Trains has announced the average fare on its network will increase by 1.8% in the new year. Stagecoach Group say new ticket prices will come into force on East Midlands Trains services from January 2. The company said the price rise was below the expected rate of inflation. East Midlands Trains also plans to freeze car parking charges at stations, including in Nottingham, and cut parking costs for non-rail users at East Midlands Parkway. (The fare rise is above the planned average national increase of just over 1%).

Source Stagecoach Group 15th November 2009.

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A training company is to open a new centre with the aim of turning jobless people into apprentices for the rail industry. Silver Track Training says it expects to put 160 apprentices through a series of training programmes at its new facility, based at the Rail Heritage Centre at Ruddington, near Nottingham. The firm hopes that its new centre will recruit people from among the long-term unemployed and those who have recently lost their jobs.

Source this is Business - East Midlands 10th November 2009.

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Rail franchise to come under public control. The East Coast Main Line, which serves the East Midlands, will come under public control next week, the Department for Transport has announced. The London-to-Edinburgh service will transfer to a Government-controlled company at one minute before midnight on November 13th. Private sector operator National Express has given up the loss-making franchise after paying to run services on the line in 2007.

Source The Press Association 4th November 2009.

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Network Rail and East Midlands Trains were joined by Nigel Clough, manager of Derby County football club and the club’s chief executive, Tom Glick, to celebrate the completion of Derby station’s multi-million pound transformation on Monday 2 November. Network Rail began the project in early 2008 and worked closely with East Midlands Trains to ensure disruption to passengers was kept to minimum. The old and dark platforms canopies have been completely demolished and replaced with light modern ones; new wider stairs have been built and lifts were installed to give step-free access to all platforms. New, light, waiting rooms have been added along with new toilets and staff areas.

Source Network Rail 2 November 2009.

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Plans for a possible electrification of the Midland Mainline, which serves the East Midlands, have been outlined by Network Rail. They say there is an attractive business case for electrification of the line from London to Sheffield. Network Rail also say that the work would pay for itself over 60 years in cheaper running costs and maintenance.

Source Network Rail news release 28th October 2009.

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East Midlands Trains has now extended its bargain £5 a day parking offer at East Midlands Parkway station to everyone. Previously rail users had to have their car park voucher validated by a ticket office to qualify for the discount. This added an unnecessary level of complexity for passengers. By extending the £5 price to everyone – train users and those who are not using the train – it is now easier for everyone.

Source East Midlamds Trains 28th October 2009.

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South Notts “The One” Takes to the Streets. One of Nottingham’s oldest bus services has a new look and name, following the launch of 6 new buses onto the popular South Notts service between Nottingham and Loughborough.

Source NCT Newsletter 25th September 2009.

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Improvement work costing £1m around Derby railway station will start on Monday 28 Sept. Funded by the Derby city council and East Midlands Development Agency, it will close Midland Place to traffic at the junction with Railway Terrace and Wellington Street and allow vehicles to use Park Street. Roads will be resurfaced, landscaping carried out and new drainage and lighting will be installed. A toucan crossing in Railway Terrace will replace an existing crossing.

Source Derby Telegraph 25th September 2009.

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East Midlands Trains is opening its first class lounges to all passengers for a £5 daily charge, so those travelling on a standard class ticket can now take advantage of the operator's station facilities, including free tea, coffee, wifi access, newspapers and snacks. The lounges are open Monday to Friday, and weekly tickets are also available for £15, monthly tickets for £50 or a year’s pass for £480. The rail company currently has first class lounges at London St. Pancras International, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham stations.

Source East Midlands Trains 18th September 2009.

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Network Rail and East Midlands Trains have announced a £69M project to reduce rail journey times between Nottingham and London by six minutes. The intention was that the work by Network Rail would knock off around eight minutes, to bring about a long-held ambition of Nottingham to London in 90 minutes. Other improvements include a much needed extra path into London St Pancras.

Source Network Rail 18th September 2009.

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Price rise for train tickets will hit Leicestershire travellers. East Midlands Trains will raise the price of some off-peak one-day London Travelcards from £37.50 to £92. The increases (from Sept 7th) will affect journeys to London from Market Harborough after the company pushed back the start of the weekday off-peak period from 8.16am to 10.47am.

Source and full story Leicester Mercury 5th September 2009.

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Rival plans for High Speed Rail. Alternative route could benefit the East Midlands. The proposed £34bn high speed rail link from London to Glasgow would not have the greatest environmental benefit, and ballast track would introduce additional costs, according to pressure groups this week.

Source and full story New Civil Engineer 3rd September 2009.

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Catering is to return to some long-distance rail journey through Nottingham. East Midlands Trains will partly reintroduce trolley buffet service for passengers using its Liverpool to Norwich route in a new partnership with supplier Rail Gourmet. Passengers have had to do without the service for three months after East Midlands Trains axed it to cut costs. This trolley service, operated by Rail Gourmet, will run on weekdays from Monday, September 7th, between Nottingham and Stockport.

Source East Midlands Trains 26th August 2009.

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Plans to build a £15m centre for the UK rail industry in Derby have been scrapped. The UK Rail Centre was intended to provide a showcase venue for the industry but the East Midlands Development Agency admits it has failed to attract investment for the project.

Source and full story Derby Telegraph 24th August 2009.

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Midland Main Line upgrades could create engineer jobs. Rail engineering jobs look likely to be created on the Midland Main Line after Network Rail unveiled a new strategy. With demand for rail services on the line expected to increase during the next decade, the company has published the East Midlands Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation.

Source and full story The Career Engineer 20th August 2009.

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Railway station barrier trials begin at Nottingham. East Midlands Trains estimates one in ten people travels on its services without a valid rail ticket. The rail operator is making the investment as part of its franchise agreement, which started in November 2007.

Source and full story This is Nottingham 12th August 2009.

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Nottingham City Transport - Network Changes - Sunday 30th August 2009
From Sunday 30th August 2009, NCT will be making a number of timetable changes to some of their services, to better reflect the road conditions and traffic delays experienced. There are also a number of changes to the network, based on customer suggestions on how the NCT network can be improved.
These changes include:

• Unilink 4, the Nottingham Trent University Shuttle bus increased in frequency to every 12 minutes
• Maroon Line 13 re-routed to operate through the University Park Campus, which will provide an a daily, all year round service into the Campus, linking it with the Broad Marsh, City Centre and Beeston
• Extra Monday to Friday morning peak buses on Orange Line 35 to cater for increased patronage
• Navy Go2 48 to Clifton increased in frequency to operate every 8 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes
• The introduction of double deck buses on Citylink 1 to Queen's Drive Park and Ride and Boots.

Source NCT 4th August 2009.

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Talks on a funding package that would secure plans for a £63.8m redevelopment of Nottingham railway station are being held. Nottingham City council chiefs are due to meet Department for Transport officials to thrash out a deal that will allow The Hub project to go ahead despite the impact of the credit crunch. If an agreement cannot be reached it is likely the plans would have to be shelved.

Source and full story This Is Nottingham 22nd July 2009.

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