East Midlands Trains has renewed its franchise for train services across Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands to 2018.
The rail operator’s deal with the Government had been due to run out this month but a new agreement has now been signed between the company and the Department for Transport.
It means the firm will continue to run trains from Nottingham to London St Pancras and across the region.
Along with the new contract, the company also announced it is spending £13m on improving its services, some of which will go towards freezing ‘Anytime’ ticket prices and discounting others.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “I want to see passengers put at the heart of our railway system. The franchise that starts today will mean better journeys and a better deal for passengers on East Midlands Trains.”
Next stop 2018: What East Midlands Trains is promising
-A freeze on all Anytime fares to London until 2017, and quarter of a million discounted advance purchase tickets
-Upgraded 4G connectivity on trains and free 15 minutes WiFi on London trains in standard class
-An improved online system for delays, providing faster compensation to customers
-Further improvements to the Nottingham-Newark-Lincoln timetable, with extra services and faster journey times on Saturdays
-More cleaning staff on trains and in stations
Jake Kelly, managing director of East Midlands Trains, added: “This is a very exciting day for our customers, our employees and local communities and marks the start of our multi-million pound investment programme.
“We are extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to continue operating train services until at least March 2018, and we’re certain our customers will welcome the plans we have in place to improve our services.
In its latest set of performance figures, the firm recorded around 93 per cent of trains as running ‘on time’ according to the industry performance measure.
This defines ‘on time’ as within five minutes for regional and within ten minutes for long distance trains at destination.
The firm also records how many trains arrive at the exact time they are scheduled and say around 75 per cent of trains are arriving at their destination within 59 seconds of their scheduled arrival time.
