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		Midland Mainline runs passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line from London St Pancras. Midland Mainline runs fast and semi-fast passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line. Its London terminal is London St Pancras which it currently uses exclusively. Most services run between London and either Sheffield, Derby, or Nottingham. Some services extend to Leeds, Barnsley and Burton upon Trent. Midland Mainline operates as far North as Scarborough during part of the summer timetable on Saturdays only, with the service only operating to York on Sundays, and throughout the winter timetable on Saturdays. Using the RailEasy™ train ticket price checker and Rail Saver reservation service to complete an online Midland Mainline train ticket reservation is quick and easy. Rail Saver will find you the cheapest available Midland Mainline train ticket price and book your train tickets in a few quick easy steps using the Rail Easy™ price check and Rail Saver booking engine.

More About Midland Mainline

Midland Mainline (MML) is a British train operating company owned by the National Express Group, created after the privatisation of British Rail. Midland Mainline services started in April 1996. Midland Mainline operations are based in Derby.

From 11 November 2007 midland Mainline ervices will be transferred to East Midlands Trains operated by Stagecoach.

Midland Mainline Routes

Midland Mainline runs fast and semi-fast passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line. Its London terminal is London St Pancras which it currently uses exclusively.

Most services run between London and either Sheffield, Derby, or Nottingham. Some services extend to Leeds, Barnsley and Burton upon Trent.

Midland Mainline operates as far North as Scarborough during part of the summer timetable on Saturdays only, with the service only operating to York on Sundays, and throughout the winter timetable on Saturdays.

The company also operates a Rail-Link Bus from the town of Corby to Kettering railway station.

There is a limited service between London St Pancras and Leeds, with three early morning departures from Leeds and four evening return trips from St Pancras. This is principally because the main maintenance depot for the Midland Mainline HST power cars is the Maintrain depot at Neville Hill in Leeds.

The service does not compare favourably with the principal service from London to Leeds along the East Coast Main Line operated by GNER. The Midland Main Line has a much slower line speed. The journey time on the Midland route is around 3 hours 17 minutes.

Midland Mainline had plans for a regular service between London St Pancras and Leeds via Nottingham, the Erewash Valley, Sheffield and Barnsley but these were rejected by the Strategic Rail Authority.

A small number of trains operate between London St Pancras and Sheffield via Nottingham and along the Erewash Valley to Chesterfield serving Langley Mill and Alfreton.

There are also a small number of through trains between St Pancras and Burton upon Trent, Belper, and Barnsley.

Midland Mainline operates summer weekend services between London and Scarborough on Saturdays providing the only through service between the capital and the North Yorkshire coast, and York on Sundays.

There are no longer through trains between London St Pancras and Matlock as the Class 222 Meridian units are not allowed on the Derwent Valley Line branch line, unlike the Class 170 Turbostar which previously operated the route.

There is also a Saturday service from London to York at 06:20 and arriving at 10:16. It forms the first service of the day out of St Pancras. The return trip is at 17:49 and arriving at London at 21:52. The service goes via Doncaster as opposed to Leeds. On Sunday, the service to York runs from Leicester rather than London, with the return service being via the Erewash Valley to Nottingham, where it reverses to call at all MML stations (except Loughborough and Luton Airport Parkway) to London.

New East Midlands Franchise

It was announced that the current Midland Mainline franchise will continue to operate until November 2007 as part of a franchise reshuffle in the Midlands. The new East Midlands franchise includes former Central Trains services in the East Midlands.

The Department for Transport announced on 19th September 2006 that four parties had pre-qualified for the new East Midlands franchise. On 31st October 2006 Invitations to Tender were issued to the following bidders:

• Arriva Trains East Midlands Limited (Arriva)
• First East Midlands Limited (First Group)
• NXE Trains Limited (National Express Group)
• Stagecoach Midland Rail Limited (Stagecoach Group)

On the 22 June, the Department for Transport announced that Stagecoach had won the franchise.

As National Express, the company that currently runs Midland Mainline has lost the franchise bid, from the 11 November 2007 all services will be transferred to East Midlands Trains and Midland Mainline will cease to exist.