The Midland Mainline runs out from London through Leicester and branches out to Nottingham and Sheffield with limited morning/evening trains to Leeds.

HISTORY

Midland Mainline were taken over by National Express group, and ordered a brand new batch of 3-car Turbostar local trains to operate stopping services. This would mean trains running at double the frequency ,and would also mean High Speed Trains could run faster. This of course, had it's downsides. The turbostar trains were simply not fast enough, and didn't carry enough capacity to deal with Midland Mainline's passenger growth. This had to be sorted out, and it was in due course.

Now it is 2007, most meridians have been increased to 5 coaches and there have been even more Meridian trains introduced (8 coach versions) to replace some High Speed Trains. The turbostar trains previously operated can now be found with Central Trains, with other turbostar trains operating on Chiltern Railways, Southern, Scotrail, South West Trains and Transpennine Express. I feel they are pretty comfortable trains, but not suitable for Intercity fast services Midland Mainline provides.

Midland Mainline's flagship trains. These 8-coach trains operate the London - Sheffield trains with a few operating into Nottingham in the peak. They offer comfortable air conditioning carriages with lovely soft seats and sufficient luggage space. A buffet is also available on board serving quality food and drink. Occasionally, you may be lucky enough to catch a train with a reasturant! The High Speed Trains provide more capacity than the smaller meridian trains and are generally more comfortable. The trains are actually 30 years old, but don't let that put you off as they are smooth, quiet and extremely cosy! First class in particular is very generous, offering sofa-style seats, much more legroom and seat cushions...the sort of luxury you won't find on the meridian trains unfortunately as their first class is just simply a wider seat. There are rumours of Midland Mainline selling these trains by 2008, but with any luck somebody will realise that they are important and keep them running the line. Virgin Trains took them off their routes and passengers now have to deal with cramped trains half their size! The High Speed Trains are also known as Intercity 125s or HST's to the enthusiasts.

Meridian trains are the newest trains running on Midland Mainline. They offer pretty much everything the High Speed Trains have to offer, but also include power sockets at each table, handy when travelling with a low-battery mobile phone! (doesn't that always happen?!) Although meridian trains are fairly comfortable and fast, the seats in both classes i feel are rather hard and aren't really suitable for the long-distance Sheffield runs. They're fine for maybe a couple of hours mind! Thankfully only three diagrams in each direction between Sheffield and London are now meridians, with the rest of the fleet being concentrated on the Nottingham/stopping Derby services. That said, the trains are certainly better than Virgin's similar trains, and do have many advantages over most new trains. I wouldn't like to put anybody off travelling on them.

SERVICE

Midland Mainline are exceptional value for money. Considering the prices hike up every year, Midland Mainline certainly provide the best train service i have experienced anywhere in the UK. Although 'turn up and go' tickets are very expensive, you can buy advance tickets on their website (if you can get it to work). The website might work for you, it might not. If it doesn't work you can also use other train operators websites to buy Midland Mainline tickets. Advance tickets can cost as little as £4 to go all the way from London to Derby, an absolute bargain. The catch is you have to use the specified train on your ticket, which is common practise with all train operators. There are also great family deals to places such as Alton Towers.

FINAL WORD