Midland Mainline[1] was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the Midland Main Line franchise between April 1996 and November 2007. It was owned by the British transport company National Express.

Midland Mainline took over operations of the franchise from the state-owned operator InterCity in April 1996. Originally intended to run for ten years, a two-year extension was awarded in exchange for greater investment into new rolling stock and the provision of an hourly service to Leeds. To facilitate the Project Rio services, 23 HST power cars and associated Mark 3 carriages were transferred from Virgin CrossCountry to Midland Mainline. During February 2002, Midland Mainline ordered sixteen four-carriage and seven nine-carriage Class 222 Meridian trains, the first of which entered service in May 2004. These new trainsets allowed for several HSTs to be released to other operators, such as First Great Western and Great North Eastern Railway (GNER).

Midland Mainline ran fast and semi-fast passenger services from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, on the Midland Main Line. Most services ran between London St Pancras and either Derby, Nottingham or Sheffield. Some services extended to Burton upon Trent, Matlock, Barnsley, Leeds, York and Scarborough. Midland Mainline operated at twenty-seven stations, of which it managed eight. In June 2007, the DfT awarded the franchise to rival company Stagecoach; accordingly, the services operated by Midland Mainline were transferred to East Midlands Trains on 11 November 2007.

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