West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and stations in the English Midlands. It is owned by a consortium of three companies: Abellio, JR East and Mitsui.

West Midlands Trains took over the franchise on 10 December 2017 and operates trains under two brand names, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway.

History
In April 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the shortlist of bidders for the West Midlands franchise, comprising the incumbent operator Govia, MTR Corporation, and West Midlands Trains: a consortium of Abellio (70%), JR East (15%) and Mitsui (15%). In July 2016, MTR Corporation withdrew from the bidding process.

The invitation to tender was issued in August 2016. In August 2017, the West Midlands Trains consortium was awarded the franchise. It took over from London Midland on 10 December 2017. The franchise is scheduled to run until March 2026.

Management
Unlike the previous London Midland franchise, which was solely accountable to the DfT, West Midlands will also be accountable for services that operate wholly within the West Midlands region to West Midlands Rail Executive, a group of 16 local authorities. However, the DfT will still need to approve any changes West Midlands Rail wish to make until the franchise is relet, by which time West Midlands Rail will award the future franchise for services wholly within the West Midlands region.

Branding
WMT services are split into two businesses which operate under two distinct sub-brands. Longer-distance train services running on the West Coast Main Line, including those running to/from London Euston, Liverpool Lime Street and Crewe operate under the London Northwestern Railway brand. This name was chosen in tribute to the former London & North Western Railway (LNWR), the company that operated services on the route between 1846 and 1922. Branding of trains and associated publicity use a green colour scheme with a logo composed of the letters L, N and W.

Services running in Birmingham and the West Midlands region — previously operated by under the London Midland City brand — are operated by WMT under the West Midlands Railway brand. These services bear an orange and grey colour scheme and are branded with a hexagonal "WM" monogram. WMT have chosen to operate these services as a distinct business unit in order to facilitate a possible future devolution of these services from the national DfT to the West Midlands Combined Authority.The hexagonal "WM" logo has been adopted as part of a shared branding initiative under Transport for West Midlands, in which other transport modes in the West Midlands have been branded with a common identity to emphasise integrated transport. Each mode bears a coloured variant of the "WM" logo: trams of the West Midlands Metro system bear a blue logo, cycling initiatives are branded with a green logo, West Midlands Trains bears an orange logo, and the West Midlands Rail Executive in turquoise.

Services
West Midlands Trains operate all train services previously run by London Midland. Trains operate under one of the company's two brand names depending on route.

London Northwestern Railway
WMT's medium- and long-distance services along the West Coast main line rail corridor are operated under the London Northwestern Railway brand. These services include:.

Oyster card and contactless card payments can be used on London Northwestern Railway at Watford Junction, Bushey, Harrow & Wealdstone, Wembley Central and Euston stations.
 * suburban and regional services out of London Euston;
 * services between Birmingham and Liverpool;
 * services on rural lines that branch off the West Coast main line.

As of 19 May 2019, the typical off-peak weekday London Northwestern Railway service pattern, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), include:

West Midlands Railway
In the West Midlands region, WMT's train services are operated under the  West Midlands Railway brand. These services include:


 * suburban services centred around Birmingham;
 * regional services between Birmingham and Shrewsbury/Hereford;
 * the Leamington to Coventry and Coventry to Nuneaton branch lines.

Services on the short Stourbridge Town branch line are run by the independent operator Pre Metro Operations, who operate services on behalf of WMT under the West Midlands Railway brand name.

As of 19 May 2018, the typical off-peak weekday West Midlands Railway services, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), include:

Future


Future changes include:
 * introduction of a half hourly service between Northampton and Crewe via Tamworth and Stafford.
 * extension of the Birmingham to Wolverhampton service to Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent. This will replace the London Euston to Crewe service via Stoke-on-Trent that will operate directly from Stafford to Crewe via the West Coast Main Line. The change of this service has angered councillors in Staffordshire as to the loss of the direct service (although Virgin Trains West Coast will continue to operate a London-bound service through Stoke-on-Trent). The change of service is necessitated by West Midlands Trains increasing the number of carriages up to twelve in peak hours, which makes stopping at Alsager, Stone and Kidsgrove impossible due to their platform lengths being unable to take 12-car trains. West Midlands Rail have since stated these stations will retain a direct service to London taking a slower route via Birmingham and Northampton.
 * reintroduction of calls at Barlaston and therefore closure of Wedgwood. This will mean the end of the long-standing Rail Replacement Bus service.From 10 December 2017, the Stafford – Stoke-on-Trent Rail Replacement Bus was cut back to run only between Stoke-on-Trent & Norton Bridge, via Wedgwood, Barlaston and Stone.