Stagecoach will run the routes for seven years

The buffet car and dining service will be replaced with a trolley service on East Midlands Trains.

The livery used on the London-bound trains will also change to white, orange, red and blue - the same as new owner Stagecoach.

Midland Mainline and Central Trains will disappear in November when the new operator takes over.

Extra seats

Tim Shoveller, managing director of East Midlands Trains, said the dining cars simply take up too much space.

"To have a restaurant car service often ties up two seats - the seat they are sitting on for their journey and the restaurant seat - we don't think that is the best use of space."

Stagecoach has promised faster journey times, extra seats and an additional early-morning train from Derby to London.

It is also planning to invest �5m in stations and �26.5m in rolling stock.

Stagecoach is headed by Scottish tycoon Brian Souter whose company, which began with two buses in Perth, now employs 31,000.

The new franchise is a combination of the existing Midland Mainline services from London's St Pancras and the eastern section of Central Trains.

The service includes a new hourly service between Kettering and London, and an agreement in principle to extend this service to a new station at Corby from December 2008.