page_title: British Rail Class 222
section_title: Midland region
hierarchical_section_title: British Rail Class 222 / Operations / Midland region
caption_attribution_description: 222013 North Wingfield
context_page_description: The British Rail Class 222 is a diesel multiple unit high-speed train capable of 125 mph. Twenty-seven sets were built by Bombardier Transportation in Bruges, Belgium.
  The Class 222 Meridian is similar to the Class 220 Voyager and Class 221 Super Voyager trains used by CrossCountry and Avanti West Coast, but it has a different interior. The Class 222 trains have more components fitted under the floors to free up space within the body. Built for Midland Mainline and Hull Trains, today all are operated by East Midlands Railway.
context_section_description: Except for certain sections of route, no routes operated by East Midlands Railway are electrified north of Bedford, and all its trains are diesel-powered.
  Midland Mainline introduced the first of 23 Class 222 units on 31 May 2004, branding them Meridian. These replaced all of the Class 170 Turbostars, and some of the High Speed Trains having better acceleration than both of them.
  Seven of the sets were nine-car Class 222 Meridians intended for an enhanced London St Pancras to Leeds service, but after the trains had been ordered, the Strategic Rail Authority decided not to allow them to run the service. The nine-car Meridians were used on London-Nottingham and some London-Sheffield services.
  When the trains were ordered, Midland Mainline overestimated the number of first-class passengers, and the four-car Meridians had less standard-class seating than the three-car Turbostars they replaced. Coach D subsequently had a section of first-class seating declassified for use by standard-class passengers.
  At the end of 2006 Midland Mainline removed a carriage from each of the nine-car sets and extended seven of the four-car sets, using the removed carriages.
  Midland Mainline had named some of the units as follows:
  The names were removed when the franchise passed to East Midlands Trains.
  Following the formation of the new East Midlands rail franchise on November 2007, the entire fleet of Class 222 Meridians was inherited by East Midlands Trains, which operated the expanded East Midlands rail franchise, including all routes previously run by Midland Mainline.
  East Midlands Trains had named the following Meridians:
  In 2008 further rearrangements were made to the sets: another carriage was removed from the eight-car Meridians, except for 222 007, which has been reduced to five cars. The surplus coaches were then added to the remaining four-car Meridians to make six seven-car sets (222 001-222 006) and 17 five-car sets (222 007-222 023). This took place from March to October 2008; as part of the process, two first-class coaches removed from 222 007 were converted to standard class and part first class.
  The seven-car trains are almost exclusively used on the fast services between London St Pancras and Sheffield. These do not operate the London St Pancras-Leeds, although the service is via Sheffield. The five-car trains are mainly used between London St Pancras and Sheffield, Nottingham or Corby on semi-fast services. The four-car trains supplement the five-car trains on these services.
  In December 2008 the Class 222 Meridians started work on the hourly London St Pancras to Sheffield services, because they have faster acceleration than the High Speed Trains and so were able to reduce the Sheffield to London journey time by 12 minutes. The hourly Nottingham service was then transferred to High Speed Train running to cover for the Meridians now working the hourly Sheffield fast service.
  In February 2009, 222 101 and 222 102 transferred from Hull Trains to East Midlands Trains, and were quickly repainted in the East Midlands Trains white livery. 222 104 followed from Hull Trains later in the year. 222 103 followed a few months after 222 104 after repairs had been completed (see below). 222 103 was reinstated after being out of service for two years for repairs after the unit fell from jacks at Bombardier's, Crofton works in early 2007.
  In 2019, following the Department for Transport's awarding of the East Midlands franchise to Abellio, all of the 222 fleet transferred to new operator East Midlands Railway in August 2019.
caption: East Midlands Trains 222013 near Clay Cross
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