ABELLIO, JR East and Mitsui launched the new West Midlands franchise on 11 December, the day after it officially began. Taking over Govia’s London Midland operation, the service will be operated by one company (West Midlands Trains) but will incorporate two brands: West Midlands Railway (WMR) for services around Birmingham, and London Northwestern Railway (LNR) for West Coast main line services. Abellio holds the majority 70.1% stake in the venture, with the other partners holding equal shares of the remaining stake.
FLEET OVERHAUL
WMT plans a £1 billion investment over the franchise term, which runs until March 2026. At the centre of this is the introduction of 413 new carriages: 14x4-car and 12x2-car DMUs built by CAF, along with two Bombardier Aventra EMU fleets (36x3-car metro-style units for the Birmingham Cross City line and 45x5-car outer-suburban and long-distance units for West Coast main line services). The Bombardier fleets will be built at Derby and maintained by the manufacturer at a new depot at Duddeston in Birmingham, while the CAF units, most of which will be built at the manufacturer’s new Newport factory in South Wales, will be maintained at Tyseley depot. All are due to enter serv…
