West Midlands Trains
British state-owned train operating company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WM Trains Limited,[2] doing business as West Midlands Trains,[3] is a British state-owned train operating company that operates commuter and local services in the West Midlands region and on the West Coast Main Line between London and the Northwest under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Railway (WMR) and outside the region as London Northwestern Railway (LNR). It assumed responsibility for these services on 1 February 2026 at the conclusion of the outsourcing contract previously placed with Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co.
1 February 2026 – Present
London Northwestern Railway
 | |||
.jpg)  Top/left: Class 730/0 Landmark in WMR livery at Cheddington Bottom/right: Class 350/3 in LNR livery at Birmingham International | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchises | West Midlands 1 February 2026 – Present | ||
| Main regions | |||
| Other regions | |||
| Fleet | West Midlands Railway
London Northwestern Railway | ||
| Stations called at | 178 | ||
| Stations operated | 146 | ||
| Parent company | DfT Operator | ||
| Headquarters | Birmingham | ||
| Reporting mark | LM[1] | ||
| Predecessor | West Midlands Trains Limited | ||
| Technical | |||
| Length | 539 mi (867 km) | ||
| Other | |||
| Website | westmidlandsrailway londonnorthwesternrailway | ||
| |||
Services
London Northwestern Railway services
WMT's services along the West Coast Main Line (WCML) rail corridor are operated under the London Northwestern Railway brand. These services include:[4]
- services out of London Euston;
- two local lines that branch off the WCML at Watford Junction and Bletchley.
As of February 2026, the typical off-peak Monday–Saturday London Northwestern Railway service pattern, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), includes:[5]
| West Coast Main Line | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Euston – Tring | 2 | |
| London Euston – Milton Keynes Central | 2 |
|
| London Euston – Birmingham New Street | 2 |
|
| London Euston – Crewe | 1 |
|
| Stafford – Crewe | 1 | |
| Birmingham New Street – Liverpool Lime Street | 1 | |
| 1 |
| |
| Abbey Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Watford Junction – St Albans Abbey | 1 | |
| Marston Vale Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Bletchley – Bedford | 1 | |
The primary express trains along the WCML are provided by Avanti West Coast.[6]
West Midlands Railway services
In the West Midlands region, WMT's train services are operated under the West Midlands Railway brand. These services include:[7]
- services through Birmingham;
- the Elephant & Bear Line (Nuneaton - Leamington) branch line.
Services on the short Stourbridge Town branch line are run by the open access operator Pre Metro Operations, who operate services on behalf of WMT under the West Midlands Railway brand name.
As of April 2026[update], the typical off-peak Monday–Saturday West Midlands Railway service pattern, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), includes:[8]
| Birmingham – Shrewsbury | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Birmingham New Street – Shrewsbury | 1 | |
| 1 |
| |
| Malvern Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Birmingham New Street – Hereford | 1 | |
| Cross-City Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Lichfield Trent Valley – Bromsgrove | 2 | |
| Four Oaks – Redditch | 2 |
|
| Chase Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Wolverhampton – Walsall | 2 |
|
| Birmingham International – Rugeley Trent Valley | 2 |
|
| Snow Hill lines | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Stratford-upon-Avon – Worcester Foregate Street via Dorridge | 1 | |
| Stratford-upon-Avon – Kidderminster via Whitlocks End | 1 |
|
| Whitlocks End – Kidderminster | 1 |
|
| Dorridge – Worcester Foregate Street | 1 |
|
| Camp Hill Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Birmingham New Street – Kings Norton | 2 | |
| Elephant & Bear Line | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Leamington Spa – Nuneaton | 1 | |
| Stourbridge Shuttle | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Stourbridge Junction – Stourbridge Town | 6 | Shuttle service |
Political background
In the lead-up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party of Keir Starmer committed itself to bring the passenger operations of the British rail network back under state ownership.[9][10] Following its election win, the government introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 that received the royal assent in November 2024.[11][12]
In July 2025, the government announced that DfT Operator would take over responsibility for passenger services from Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co on 1 February 2026.[13][14][15] (Although the process is sometimes described as "nationalisation", this is in contrast to the previous "privatisation" rather than any compulsory acquisition. Formally, the outsourcing contract ("franchise") was merely not renewed when it reached its end-date, and employed staff were transferred to the successor company at their existing terms and conditions in accordance with the TUPE regulations.)
Rolling Stock
Fleet
| Family | Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Carriages | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Shunting locomotive | |||||||||
| 08[16] |  |
Shunter | 15 | 24 | 2 | N/A | Stock movements | 1952–1962 | |
| West Midlands Railway | |||||||||
| Parry People Mover | 139 | .jpg) |
Railcar | 20 | 32 | 2 | 1 | Stourbridge Town branch line | 2009 |
| Bombardier Turbostar | 172 |  |
DMU | 100 | 161 | 8 | 2 | 2010 | |
 |
4 | 2011 | |||||||
 |
12 | ||||||||
 |
15 | 3 | |||||||
   | |||||||||
| CAF Civity | 196 |  |
12 | 2 | 2019–2020 | ||||
| 14 | 4 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Bombardier Aventra[17] | Class 730/0 Landmark[18] |  |
EMU | 90 | 145 | 48[19] | 3 | 2021–2023 | |
| London Northwestern Railway | |||||||||
| Sprinter[23][24] | 150 |  |
DMU | 75 | 121 | 3 | 2 | Marston Vale line | 1985–1986 |
| Siemens Desiro | 350 |   _London_Northwestern_Railway_Class_350_350405_@_Liverpool_Lime_Street_2025-06-12.jpg) |
EMU | 110 | 177 | 50 | 4 | 2004–2014 | |
  | |||||||||
| Bombardier Aventra[17] | Class 730/0 Landmark[18] | |
90 | 145 | 48[19] | 3 | London Euston – Tring/Milton Keynes Central | 2021–2023 | |
 | |||||||||
| Class 730/2[25] |  |
110 | 177 | 36[26] | 5 | 2021–2024 | |||
