Powering the Midlands Engine

Changes happening now in the Midlands

Below are press releases from rail companies in the Midlands promoting changes and improvements happening in the area.

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Sneak peek of brand new electric train fleet for Birmingham
Rail passengers in the West Midlands have been given a sneak peek of the brand new electric train fleet which is set to...
Passengers urged to check journey as EMR increase services to 97%
Passengers of East Midlands Railway (EMR) are being asked to choose their journey wisely as the company reinstates nearly all...
HS2: formal start of construction and 22,000 ‘jobs boost’ for Britain
HS2 Ltd has announced the formal start of construction on the project, highlighting the large number of jobs the project will...
GTR provides safe travel tips for returning students
Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern trains, is reminding schoolchildren and college...
East Midlands Railway reinstates complete Midland Main Line service
Full service to and from London St Pancras International resumes from Monday, September 7. This is part of a wider increase to...
CrossCountry resumes normal seat reservations
Long distance train operator CrossCountry has confirmed that, from Monday 7 September, it will resume reservations for...

Big Changes in 2020

Passengers, communities and businesses in the Midlands will benefit from big changes happening on our railway.

Trains

On East Midlands Railway a new half-hourly service from St Pancras International-Luton-Corby
Continued rollout by West Midlands Trains of 180 new train carriages and standing room for an extra 50,000 passengers to and from Birmingham in Metro style carriages
Faster journeys on CrossCountry routes between the Midlands and North East of England

Stations, tracks, depots

Station improvements underway at Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Market Harborough, Kidderminster, Warwick and Banbury
Continued rollout by West Midlands Trains of 180 new train carriages and room for 50,000 extra passengers to and from Birmingham in metro style carriages
200 new train crew now on West Midlands Trains

Communities

East Midlands Railway will manage 30 preapprenticeships for local young people and host 25 employability masterclasses at schools
Birmingham New Street station now has a dedicated waiting lounge and team to support additional mobility and sensory needs
Chiltern Railways will be trialling a greener and noisereducing hybrid battery-diesel train

Major upgrade work

Electrification of the Midland Main Line to Corby will go live in 2020
New Wolverhampton Interchange Project is on track to open for customers in Summer 2020 as part of a £150 million transport hub

View all the big changes happening across Britain

People across the Midlands support rail companies’ proposals for change

The rail industry recognise the need for big changes, that's why together we submitted proposals for a radical alternative to the current franchising system to the independently-chaired Williams review looking into the future of Britain's railway. We proposed for a more customer focussed, joined-up and accountable railway.

Find out more about our Big Plan for change