Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 39, 2014

First TransPennine Express is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (55%) and Keolis (45%) operating the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express runs regular inter-city services between the major cities of Northern England as well as to the Central Belt of Scotland. The franchise operates a hub model radiating from Manchester covering three main routes. The service provides rail links for major cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, York, Scarborough and Newcastle. Previously, all services used to call or terminate at Manchester Piccadilly, however, as of May 2014, a new service running between Newcastle Central and Liverpool Lime Street, calling at Manchester Victoria was announced, and launched as part of the Northern Hub plan. First TransPennine Express is one of the few UK train operating companies running 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. For example, trains run between York, Leeds and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week.