TransPennine Express

TransPennine Express
	Two Class 802 units passing at Northallerton in June 2020
Overview
Franchise(s)	TransPennine Express; 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2023
Main route(s)	North West England, Yorkshire and Humber, North East England, Scotland
Fleet size	14 Class 68 locomotives + 66 Mark 5A carriages for 13 loco-hauled sets (Nova 3); 51 Class 185 Desiro; 12 Class 397 Civity (Nova 2); 19 Class 802 AT300 (Nova 1);
Stations operated	19
Parent company	FirstGroup
Reporting mark	TP
Predecessor	First TransPennine Express
Other
Website	tpexpress.co.uk
System map
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TransPennine Express (TPE)[1] is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and intercity rail services between the major cities of Northern England and Scotland.

The franchise operates all its services to and through Manchester covering three main routes. The service provides rail links for major towns and cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. TPE also run trains 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. TPE trains run between York, Leeds and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week.

The majority of TPE's trains have been procured during the 2010s under Project Nova. These consist of the Nova 1 (Class 802) BMU trainsets, the Nova 2 Class 397 CAF Civity EMUs, and the Nova 3 Mark 5A fixed-formation carriages paired with Class 68 locomotives.[2] These have replaced older rolling stock, such as the Bombardier Turbostar 170/3s and Siemens Desiro 350/4s, and facilitated an operational shift upon intercity services, although the commuter market remains an important subsector of the passenger market.

History

Passenger journeys on the Transpennine franchise from 2010–11 to 2018–19, showing a gradual rise except for a drop in 2016 after some services transferred to Northern.[3]

The TransPennine Express brand was launched in the early 1990s by British Rail's Regional Railways sector.[4] It became part of Regional Railways North East and, on 2 March 1997, was privatised along with the majority of British Rail. Its first private sector operator, Northern Spirit, as well as its successor, Arriva Trains Northern, opted to maintain the brand.[5]

In 2000, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it planned to reorganise the North West Regional Railways and Regional Railways North East franchises operated by First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern. A TransPennine Express franchise would be created for the long-distance regional services, the remaining services being operated by a new Northern franchise.[6]

In July 2003, the TransPennine franchise was awarded to a joint venture between FirstGroup and Keolis, and the services operated by Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western were transferred to First TransPennine Express on 1 February 2004.[7] On 11 November 2007, the services from Manchester to Edinburgh and Glasgow via the West Coast Main Line formerly operated by Virgin CrossCountry were transferred to First TransPennine Express.[8]

In August 2014, the Department for Transport announced FirstGroup, Keolis/Go-Ahead and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise.[9] During December 2015, FirstGroup was awarded the franchise of TransPennine Express. The effective date of the new franchise was 1 April 2016 and will run until 31 March 2023, with an option to extend for two years.[10][11][12]

As part of a recasting of the franchise map by the Department for Transport, services from Manchester Airport to Blackpool North; Manchester Airport to Barrow in Furness; and Oxenholme to Windermere were transferred to the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016.[13]

Services

The TransPennine Express routes are subdivided into three operations:

North Route, which includes all routes that pass through the core section between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds;
Scottish Route, which consists of services on the West Coast Main Line;
South Route, which includes services running on the Hope Valley line and the South Humberside Main Line.[14]

Details of each route, including maps and timetables, are on the TransPennine Express official website (see External links, below). In May 2018, following the transfer of the Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield Northern stopping service to TPE, regular services ceased between some of the intermediate Pennine stations, most daytime services either stopped at Mossley and Slaithwaite, or Greenfield and Marsden. Following the December 2018 timetable change, however, regular services resumed between Mossley, Slaithwaite, Greenfield and Marsden.

As of December 2019, the following services operate off-peak, Mondays to Saturdays, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph):

North Route
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough	1	Lea Green, Manchester Victoria, Stalybridge, Huddersfield, Leeds, Garforth, York, Malton, Seamer	68, 185 [15]
Manchester Airport to Redcar Central	1	Gatley, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, York, Thirsk, Northallerton, Yarm, Thornaby, Middlesbrough	68, 185 [15]
Liverpool Lime Street to Edinburgh Waverley via Newcastle	1	Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street (limited service), Newcastle, Morpeth	185, 802
Manchester Airport to Newcastle	1	Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, York, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street (1tp2h)	185, 802
Manchester Piccadilly to Hull	1	Stalybridge, Huddersfield, Leeds, Selby, Brough	185
Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield	1	Stalybridge, Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden, Slaithwaite
Huddersfield to Leeds	1	Deighton, Mirfield, Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury, Batley, Morley, Cottingley
South Route
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes	1	Manchester Piccadilly (trains reverse), Stockport, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Barnetby, Habrough, Grimsby Town some trains also call at Gatley, East Didsbury, Burnage, Mauldeth Road, Dore & Totley, Rotherham Central, Kirk Sandall, Hatfield & Stainforth, Thorne South, Crowle and Althorpe	185
Scottish Route
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
Manchester Airport to Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley via Preston	1	Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Bolton (irregular),[lower-alpha 1] Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District,[lower-alpha 2] Penrith (irregular),[lower-alpha 2] Carlisle, Lockerbie (irregular)[lower-alpha 2] 1tpd will call additionally at Carstairs. 1tp2h continues to Glasgow Central, calling at Motherwell. 1tp2h continues to Edinburgh Waverley, calling at Haymarket.	185, 397
Liverpool Lime Street to Glasgow Central via St Helens Central	4tpd [lower-alpha 3]	St Helens Central (2tpd), Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster (2tpd), Penrith (3tpd), Carlisle (3tpd), Lockerbie (1tpd) Some southbound trains call at Lea Green instead of St Helens Central	185, 397

Generally served hourly or two-hourly but there are some longer gaps between services; trains stop to pick up only towards Glasgow/Edinburgh, and to set down only towards Manchester.
Generally served hourly but there are some two-hour gaps between services.
one train terminates at Preston

North Route

	3:53	Edinburgh Waverley ( St Andrew Sq.)
	2:34	Morpeth
	2:14	Newcastle
	2:07	Chester-le-Street
	2:00	Durham
	1:47	Darlington
	2:35	Redcar Central
	2:21	Middlesbrough
	2:13	Thornaby
	2:02	Yarm
	1:37	Northallerton
	1:34	Thirsk
	2:03	Scarborough
	1:53	Seamer
	1:36	Malton
	1:12	York
	1:54	Hull
	1:36	Brough
	1:30	Gilberdyke
	1:24	Howden
	1:18	Selby
	1:09	South Milford
	1:08	Garforth
	0:48	Leeds
	1:04	Cottingley
	1:01	Morley
	0:47	Batley
	0:40	Dewsbury
	0:46	Ravensthorpe
	0:43	Mirfield
	0:38	Deighton
	0:29	Huddersfield
	0:28	Slaithwaite
	0:27	Marsden
	0:19	Greenfield
	0:17	Mossley
	0:13	Stalybridge
	0:00	Manchester Victoria
	0:02	Manchester Oxford Road
	0:00	Manchester Piccadilly
	0:06	East Didsbury
	0:08	Gatley
	0:14	Manchester Airport
	0:16	Newton-le-Willows
	0:20	Lea Green
	0:38	Liverpool Lime Street
Times shown are best times from Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Victoria.

South Route