Introducing EMR Connect – more seats and a simpler timetable on our greenest ever fleet

East Midlands Railway (EMR) will launch its new all-electric service between Corby and London St Pancras later this month.

EMR Connect, is the company’s first electric route, reducing carbon emissions by 77 per cent and lowering noise levels for lineside neighbours. It also provides EMR’s sixth train to and from London every hour, up from the current five.

The new timetable is made possible by the successful delivery of the £1.5 billion Midland Main Line Upgrade by Network Rail, which includes new overhead line equipment between Bedford and Corby, as well as an additional track between Kettering and Corby.  

EMR Connect will be comprised of eight carriage electric trains serving Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton & Luton Airport Parkway every 30 minutes on weekdays from 6am.

Services on Sunday afternoon will also be significantly improved, with a full weekday timetable running after 2pm – providing better access to and from London and the East Midlands.

It will provide more seats for passengers across the region – with further late night and early morning services – and will allow the reintroduction of peak services between Wellingborough and Bedford, meaning passengers will not need to use the replacement coach service.

The trains which will operate EMR Connect are known as Class 360’s. EMR had hoped to refurbish a number of these trains before they entered service. However, as a result of delays caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, that has unfortunately not been possible. EMR is fully committed to refurbish these trains as swiftly as possible and will share more information on this programme soon.

Passengers wanting to use EMR’s Intercity service north of Kettering will be able to make a northbound connection, twice an hour at the same times, every hour, and with coordinated interchange times, the total journey time to Leicester and Nottingham remain the same as today.

Will Rogers, Managing Director of East Midlands Railway, said: “We are delighted to be able to introduce our new all-electric EMR Connect service for our passengers travelling between Corby and London St Pancras.

“Not only will EMR Connect enable a significant reduction in carbon emissions and noise levels, it will also provide more seats, later services and more frequent journeys helping to support the communities and businesses of the region.”

EMR Connect will transform the services in the region including the following changes:

Corby

• More than doubles the current number of services to and from London
• Providing thousands of additional seats every day and increases the number of trains arriving into London before 9am from one to six
• Last direct service back from London is now four hours later – making it easier to visit London or meet friends

Wellingborough

• Average journey time remains comfortably under 60 minutes with a more consistent timetable with services in both directions every 30 minutes
• First train arrives into London approximately 20 minutes earlier than today
• A limited EMR Intercity service will operate in the morning and evening to provide direct journeys to and from Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield
• Wellingborough passengers travelling to/from Nottingham at other times of the day will need to change at Kettering, however connection times are generally under 10 minutes, retaining current journey times in the vast majority of instances

Bedford

• Reintroduced EMR peak time services and a consistent timetable with services in both directions every 30 minutes
• Journeys to and from London will take approximately 41 minutes
• Peak time bus between Wellingborough and Bedford replaced by train services every 30 minutes
• A limited EMR Intercity service will operate in the morning and evening to provide direct journeys to Nottingham and Leicester
• Bedford passengers travelling to/from Nottingham at other times of the day will need to change at Kettering, however connection times are generally under 10 minutes, retaining current journey times in the vast majority of instances

Luton

• Reintroduction of EMR peak time services for Luton with services in both directions every 30 minutes
• Journeys to and from London St Pancras will take approximately 25 minutes
• Bedford passengers travelling to/from Nottingham will need to change at Kettering, however connection times are generally under 10 minutes, retaining current journey times in the vast majority of instances

Luton Airport Parkway

• Non-stop services form London St Pancras International, every 30 minutes
• A consistent timetable with services in both directions from 6am with journeys to and from London taking just over 20 minutes.
• When complete, the new DART service will provide a rail link from Luton Airport Parkway to the airport terminal

Photo credit: East Midlands Railway

Download article