This franchise had emerged out of a reorganisation conducted by the Department for Transport, which had combined elements of the Silverlink and Central Trains operations together.

The franchise was originally scheduled to expire in September 2015; this was extended to March 2016, and once again to October 2017 in return for London Midland's agreement to put on extra trains and enact other service improvements in this additional time.

The creation of London Midland came out of a wider initiative within the Department for Transport to redraw some of the passenger rail franchises that were operating in the mid-2000s.

[8] The company also suffered from ongoing staff-relations problems which led to extensive and long-lasting cancellations of Sunday services.

The company pledged to introduce a new semi-fast service between London and Crewe, acquire at least 37 new multiple units by July 2009, and invest a minimum of £11.5m into its stations.

[22] London Midland also sought to run additional evening and Sunday trains between Euston and Crewe, to satisfy what the company says was unmet demand.

[24] During 2010, London Midland remarked on the high frequency of breakdowns across its fleet, attributing this poor performance as having been primarily due to the outdated rolling stock that it had inherited and was in the process of replacing.

[27] In autumn and winter 2012, a significant volume of services suffered cancellations, which was reportedly due to an acute shortage of available train drivers.

'Transforming Rail Travel' was a deal between the two organisations to continue a two-year arrangement with the aim of delivering further enhancements to services and facilities.

[34][35] Against a background of ongoing rail strikes nationwide, during January 2017, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced that it would be balloting guards at London Midland for potential industrial action over concerns regarding the introduction of externally-contracted security staff on its trains at the end of December 2016, which the RMT alleged would replace the role of "safety-critical" guards on some services, paving the way for DOO operation.

The first of the Class 350/2 units arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Northampton Kings Heath Siemens Depot.

London Midland was to lose all of its Class 321 units, but a change of plan saw it retain seven for use both on the Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey branch line and on peak-hour express services between Northampton/Milton Keynes Central/Tring-London Euston.

However, problems in testing caused a delay in their introduction, with a replacement bus covering the route following the reallocation of the Class 153 originally used.

During 2011, London Midland announced that it would be procuring a further 18 four-car Class 350 units, eight for itself and ten for sub-lease to First TransPennine Express.

The Northern franchise agreement also ruled out the option of any additional Class 323 units being leased from Porterbrook to London Midland before 1 January 2019.