Arriva Transpennine Express

.../> From here it was Arriva who an the trains, once again thankfully not for long. Mainly, arriva transpennine express trains never "arriva-ed" on time, if they were not cancelled.
Transpennine express is now part of the first group, and I will now go into the details of the group.


The Route...
First transpennine express now operate four main routes (will operate five by the beginning of 2008)...
...Scarborough, Hull, Newcastle and Middlesborough (north)
as above to Manchester>Preston>the Lake District(north west)
as above to Manchester >Preston>Blackpool(north west)
In December of 2007 there will also be anther new route added to the north west routes...
Manchester Airport>Manchester>Carslisle>Edinburgh/Glasgow

Trains...
First transpennine express now operates mainly brand ... more

An Introduction...
Trans-pennine express was originally part of the regional railways group, owned by british rail, before privatisation in the mid-90s. The trains were originally all class 158s, some in regional railways colours, but with the older, less comfortable trains in metro colours. the interiors were generally comfortable.
After privatisation, it was northern spirit wha ran the trains, thankfully not for a long period of time as whilst during their ownership of the company there were so many problems (see stories). Mhe up side to northern spirit was that all of the trains were given a new leash of life, by being painted up on the outside and refurbished inside.
From here it was Arriva who an the trains, once again thankfully not for long. Mainly, arriva transpennine express trains never "arriva-ed" on time, if they were not cancelled.
Transpennine express is now part of the first group, and I will now go into the details of the group.

The Route...
First transpennine express now operate four main routes (will operate five by the beginning of 2008)...
Manchester Airport>Manchester>Sheffield>Cleethorpes(south)
as above to Manchester>Liverpool and Leeds>York> Scarborough, Hull, Newcastle and Middlesborough (north)
as above to Manchester>Preston>the Lake District(north west)
as above to Manchester >Preston>Blackpool(north west)
In December of 2007 there will also be anther new route added to the north west routes...
Manchester Airport>Manchester>Carslisle>Edinburgh/Glasgow

Trains...
First transpennine express now operates mainly brand new class 185 trains, and these are spotless and very comfortable. the only route not operated by these is the Manchester Piccadilly to Hull, this is operated by class 170 turbostars. The trains, although nice, light and airy are still not large enough for the number of passengers they are expected to carry at peak hours, and bizzarely, there is virtually no room to store luggage on the trains, even though they are used to and from Manchester Airport, where surely people will have large cases (or is that just me expressing logic, which can clearly not be used in reality?). otherwise the trains are very good. The class 185s have a maximum seating capacity of 164 in standard class and 15 in first class. They have automated announcements for at stations that tell you where the train is, where it is going and where the next stop is and for the hearing impaired there are also LED information display screens in each carriage with the same information, and when announcments are not being made these screens usually show the time, which is handy for checking if the train is running on time. All tables in standard class have laptop and mobile phone plug in points though these are not available at seats for two. All seats in first class have these plug in points regardless of whether they are tables or not( this is from their timetable and I have not actually checked this myself despite travelling in first class several times).

Reliability...
To this day I do not think I have ever boarded a train that has left on time (other than when it has been from Manchester Airport, where there is no way for it to get delayed). Although this is the fault of northern trains, and their Scunthorpe to Sheffield train that proceeds the Cleethorpes to Manchester Airport Train running several minutes late. because of this there is virtually always a 3-5 minute delay on the service, which is not really that bad.
Now...
It has occurred recently that transpennine express has had to order a new fleet of "trains" that do not run on rails (they could easily be mistaken for coaches). Due to ongoing engineering works there have been severe problems with services on the south traanspennine route, and other routes between Manchester Picccadilly and Manchester airport, meaning that buses have had to be used between Manchester and the airport, and in some cases between Sheffield and the airport!!! (see stories). This is no fault of Transpennine express however is somewhat offputting, and also causes disruption, and is not good for those with large luggage in ome cases, nor for those who are disabled. The coaches are often old and decrepit and can not provide you with a comfortable journey or basic needs such as a toilet!!!!
This problem appears to have now been sorted out and most of the trains are now running normally once again, which is a relief for me.

Stories...
>When I was younger I arranged a journey to and from Manchester airport from meadowhall. At the time northern spirit were in ownership of the company, and were modernising the trains as mentioned earlier. I had arranged it especially so as we would be on a train that had been refurbished each way (you could tell this by the notes in the timetable as only the refurbished trains had 1st class). after being on the outbound train for three minutes there was an announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the next stop will be Sheffield. Change here for services to Leeds, York, London and the North. Passengers travelling on to stations for Manchester Airport, There is a replacement train on Platform seven."no explination or reason given as to why we had to change, the passengers were left baffled. When on the replacement train (an old and scruffy vandalised metro train, that looked as if it had been shipped in specially from a scrap yard, we were on our way again. On arrival at Stockport there was another announcement: "This is Stockport, passengers travelling to stations to Manchester Airport. There is a Bus from Manchester Piccadilly." once again passengers were in confusion as to why we had to change and where on earth the bus would depart from, as we had no idea and the conducter on the train neglected to tell us. We eventually found where the bus was departing from and there were two buses waiting. the driver of the front bus informed us all that we should be on the bus behind, the driver in the bus behind informed us we should use the bus in front. after finding a member of station staff (the station was owned by Virgin trains, and the member of station staff was somewhat more useful) we found the right bus, which was either, and the bus drivers simply said they were having a laugh (not funny, but even then, they were funny about it and made out we were stupid). the bus drivers drove somewhat badly and on arrival at the airport we were surprised that there had not being an acident. the journey back was not much more successful.

>several weeks ago I arranged to meat my mum at Manchester Airport as she was returning from Spain. I went on the internet to find journey times from Swinton (South Yorkshire), however I hit an obstacle. there was a bus to Sheffield (provided by Northern trains, as there were problems at Rotherham Station), then a bus to Manchester Piccadilly (provided by central trains, due to engineerin works), followed by a bus to the airport (provided by First transpennine express, due to station improvements at the minor stations between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport. The journey that should take around 100 minutes, would have taken nearly three hours, and I did not fancy using buses as I am uncomfortable with long road journeys. I opted to travel by train to Leeds, then train from Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly, then a bus to the airport. The journey there was pleasant, and was just under three hours long, the journey back took over four hours, as there wsa a bus to Manchester Piccadilly, then a train to Leeds, followed by a wait in Leeds for a train to Doncaster, then a train to Meadowhall, before I could get a train that took me to Swinton.

Prices...

Tickets are generally good value on the south transpennine route, though I do not travel on the other routes often enough to comment. On weekends a first class upgrade is available on the train for the price of £6 per person each way, no matter how far you travel. This includes free refreshments.

One last note...
First transpennine express is a wonderful company, that unfortunately has many problems with engineering works through no fault of their own. Most of the engineering work is now over, so it should be alright for travelling, though some problems may still occur, especially between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.

I hope you have found this review helpful and if you require any more information please leave me a comment and I will update the review accordingly. 

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