West Midlands Trains facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
West Midlands Trains

Top: Class 172 in WMR colours at Birmingham Moor Street Bottom: Class 350 in LNR colours at Aston
Overview
Franchise(s)	West Midlands 10 December 2017 – 20 September 2026
Main region(s)	Greater London West Midlands
Other region(s)	East of England East Midlands North West Southeast
Fleet size	West Midlands Railway 2 Class 139 Parry People Mover sets 39 Class 172 Turbostar sets 26 Class 196 Civity sets 23 Class 323 electric multiple units 48 Class 730 Aventra sets London Northwestern Railway 3 Class 150 Sprinter diesel multiple units 87 Class 350 Desiro electric multiple units
Stations called at	178
Stations operated	146
Parent company	Transport UK Group (70%) JR East (15%) Mitsui & Co (15%)
Reporting mark	LM
Predecessor	London Midland
Technical
Length	867.4 km (539.0 mi)
Other
Website
Route map

West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British company that runs passenger trains. It operates services between London and the English Midlands. WMT uses two different names for its services. Trains running within the West Midlands region are called West Midlands Railway (WMR). Trains going outside this area are known as London Northwestern Railway (LNR).

West Midlands Trains was formed by three companies working together: Abellio, JR East, and Mitsui & Co. They teamed up to win the contract to run trains in the West Midlands. They started operating trains on 10 December 2017, taking over from the previous company, London Midland. WMT is expected to continue running these trains until March 2026.

History of West Midlands Trains

How many people travelled on West Midlands trains from 2010 to 2019

In April 2016, the government department in charge of transport, the Department for Transport (DfT), announced the companies that could bid for the West Midlands train contract. These included the company already running the trains, Govia, plus MTR Corporation, and the new group, West Midlands Trains. West Midlands Trains was a team-up of Abellio (70%), JR East (15%), and Mitsui & Co (15%).

In August 2017, the West Midlands Trains group won the contract. They began running trains on 10 December 2017. This contract is set to last until March 2026. For trains that stay within the West Midlands region, West Midlands Trains also reports to the West Midlands Rail Executive. This is a group of 16 local councils.

In mid-2020, West Midlands Trains had to reduce its services a lot. This was because fewer people were travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 15 June 2020, passengers and staff had to wear face coverings on public transport in England. This included West Midlands Trains services.

In May 2021, the company faced criticism. They sent an email to 2,500 employees. It seemed to thank them for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic and offered a bonus. However, when employees clicked the link, they found there was no bonus. The email was a "phishing simulation test" to see if staff would fall for a fake email.

In September 2021, the DfT gave WMT a direct contract until 20 September 2026. This replaced their old agreement. This happened after emergency measures were put in place due to the pandemic's financial impact.

West Midlands Trains was affected by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes. These were the first big national rail strikes in the UK in 30 years. Workers at West Midlands Trains joined in these strikes. They were protesting about pay and working conditions. Because so many staff were involved, West Midlands Trains could only run a very small number of trains on strike days.

In February 2023, Abellio sold its share in West Midlands Trains to Transport UK Group.

West Midlands Train Brands

The shared West Midlands symbol, orange for trains

West Midlands Trains uses two main names for its services. These are like sub-brands.

Trains running on the West Coast Main Line are called London Northwestern Railway. This includes trains to and from London Euston, Liverpool Lime Street, and Crewe. This name was chosen to honour the old London & North Western Railway (LNWR). That company ran trains on this route from 1846 to 1922. These trains and their signs use a green colour scheme. Their logo has the letters L, N, and W.

Trains running in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area are called West Midlands Railway. These services used to be run by London Midland. WMT runs these services as a separate part of the company. This is to make it easier for local authorities to take more control of these services in the future. These trains use orange and purple colours. They have a special "WM" logo. This logo is part of a shared branding plan for all transport in the West Midlands County. This helps people see that all the different types of transport work together. For example, West Midlands Buses use a red logo, and West Midlands Metro trams use a blue logo.

London Northwestern Railway Services

London Northwestern Railway runs services along the West Coast Main Line. These services include:

• Trains starting from London Euston.
• Trains on smaller lines that connect to the West Coast Main Line.

Here are some of the main routes and how often trains run (tph means trains per hour) during off-peak times on weekdays and Saturdays:

West Midlands Railway Services

In the West Midlands region, West Midlands Railway runs the train services. These include:

• Trains that go through Birmingham.
• Branch lines like the Coventry to Leamington and Coventry to Nuneaton routes.

A company called Pre Metro Operations runs services on the short Stourbridge Town branch line. They do this for WMT under the West Midlands Railway name.

Here are some of the main routes and how often trains run (tph means trains per hour) during off-peak times on weekdays and Saturdays:

On Sundays, most routes have trains every hour. However, some routes have fewer trains or different stopping patterns.

Future Train Service Changes

Map of the Birmingham & West Midlands rail network (2017)

Some planned changes include:

• Trains will start stopping at Barlaston again. This means the Wedgwood station will close.
• Trains will also start stopping at Polesworth again. Both platforms there will be refurbished and reopened.

Trains Used by West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains took over many different types of trains from London Midland. As newer trains arrive, some of the older ones will be returned to the companies that own them.

Current Train Fleet

Class 139 Parry People Movers

These are small, lightweight trains. They are used on the Stourbridge Town branch line. West Midlands Trains has two of these units, 139 001 and 139 002. They started running in 2009.

Class 172 Turbostar

West Midlands Trains uses 35 Class 172 units. These trains have either two or three carriages. They started running on the Snow Hill Lines in 2011. In 2018 and 2019, West Midlands Railway got more of these trains. This helped replace older trains on routes like Coventry to Nuneaton and Birmingham to Hereford. In 2021, four more Class 172s joined the fleet from Chiltern Railways. Now, West Midlands Trains operates all the Class 172 units.

Class 196 Civity

West Midlands Trains is getting 26 new Class 196 Civity trains. These new trains will replace older Class 170 and Class 153 units. The first of these new trains started service on the Shrewsbury line on 17 October 2022.

Class 323 and 350 EMUs

The Class 323 and Class 350/2 trains will be replaced by new Class 730 units. Many of the Class 323 units will move to Northern Trains.

List of Current Trains

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
				mph	km/h
West Midlands Railway
Parry People Mover	139		Railcar	40	64	2	1	Stourbridge Town branch line	2009
Bombardier Turbostar	172		DMU	100	161	8	2	Birmingham–Hereford Snow Hill lines Leamington Spa to Nuneaton	2010
						4			2011
						12
						15	3
CAF Civity	196					12	2	Snow Hill lines Birmingham–Shrewsbury Birmingham–Hereford Leamington Spa to Nuneaton	2019–20
						14	4
Hunslet Transportation Projects/Holec	323		EMU	90	145	23	3	Cross-City Line	1992–1995
London Northwestern Railway
Sprinter	150		DMU	75	121	3	2	Marston Vale line	1985–1986
Siemens Desiro	350		EMU	110	177	87	4	London Northwestern Railway Abbey Line Birmingham New Street–Northampton Stafford–Crewe Euston–Tring/Milton Keynes Central London Euston–Northampton Euston–Crewe via Trent Valley Line London Euston–Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street–Liverpool Lime Street West Midlands Railway Chase Line	2004–2014
Alstom Aventra	730/0		EMU	90	145	48 (40 in service)	3	Euston – Tring/Milton Keynes Central London Euston – Northampton Wolverhampton – Walsall via Birmingham New Street Cross-City Line	2021–2023

Future Trains for West Midlands

In October 2017, West Midlands Trains announced plans for new trains. They ordered 26 new CAF Civity diesel trains. They also ordered 81 new electric trains based on Bombardier Transportation's Aventra design. In total, this means 107 new trains for the company. The order for electric trains was later changed to 84 units.

Class 730 Aventra

81 of these units were ordered in 2017. This order was later changed to 48 three-car trains and 36 five-car trains, making 84 units in total. They are being built in Derby.

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Route(s) to be operated	Built	In service
				mph	km/h
Alstom Aventra	730/2		EMU	110	177	36	5	Electrified LNR suburban services Long distance LNR services	2021–present	Expected in 2024

Past Trains Used by WMT

Class 230 D-Trains

West Midlands Trains was the first company to use the Class 230 trains. These trains were made from old London Underground D78 Stock carriages.

The company planned to use three of these two-car D-Train units on the Marston Vale line. The first Class 230 started regular service in April 2019. In December 2022, these trains were taken out of service. This happened after Vivarail, the company that made and maintained them, went out of business.

Family	Class	Image	Type	Number	Carriages	Built	Routes operated	Withdrawn
Sprinter	150/1		DMU	3	2	1985–86	London Northwestern Railway Marston Vale Line West Midlands Railway Birmingham–Hereford	2019
	153			8	1	1987–88	West Midlands Railway Birmingham–Hereford Snow Hill Lines	2020
Bombardier Turbostar	170			17	2	1999–2000	West Midlands Railway Birmingham–Hereford Birmingham–Shrewsbury Snow Hill Lines Shrewsbury-Walsall via Birmingham New Street	2021–2023
				6	3
Vivarail D-Train	230		DEMU	3	2	2016–2018	London Northwestern Railway Bedford-Bletchley	1 December 2022
BR Second Generation (Mark 3)	319		EMU	15	4	1987–1988	London Northwestern Railway London Euston–Tring/Milton Keynes Central London Euston–Northampton	2022-2023