London Midland wins another franchise extension

More trains and free WiFi have been promised to rail commuters in the Midlands, as London Midland was granted its second franchise extension this week.

The train operating company was directly awarded an extension on the West Midlands franchise to October 2017.

Its initial contract with the Department for Transport was to end in October this year, with an initial extension to October 2016 granted in June last year.

London Midland is 65% owned by FTSE 250-listed Go-Ahead Group, with the remainder held by French public transport giant Keolis.

The extended franchise brought with it the announcement of two extra evening services each weekday from London Euston to the Trent Valley, extra Sunday morning services in the Birmingham area, an extra daily return train on the Abbey line, and free WiFi on long-distance services.

"We're pleased the government has put its confidence in London Midland to continue operating the West Midlands franchise, and also deliver further enhancements for passengers", said Go-Ahead Group chief executive David Brown.

"The plans offer benefits for passengers, taxpayers and the local communities that are served."

London Midland began operations in 2007 as a new franchise, taking over a number of routes from the former Central Trains and Silverlink operations.

In 2014-15, it took the second largest total subsidy from the taxpayer, at 16.6p per passenger mile. Northern Rail was first at 34.2p.