Northern Rail, often referred to as Northern, is the primary train operator
in Northern England and is a British train operating company owned by
Serco-Abellio operating the Northern Rail franchise.
Northern runs a mix of commuter rural and some longer-distance services around
Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire,
Merseyside, Northumberland, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and Yorkshire. Northern's
services also extend to the north Midland counties of Derbyshire,
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire. Most services are
supported by passenger transport executives. Northern Rail also operates
the Northern Electrics sub-brand on recently electrified services in North
West England. Of all the train operating companies in the UK, Northern Rail
operates the most stations. The current Northern Rail franchise will
end in February 2016 since beginning operation in 2004 and the new operator
will be announced in December 2015. The current Northern franchise has received
no new build trains since 1998 and the new franchisee is required to remove the
unpopular Pacer trains by the end of the decade. The new operator will be
required to double services on many Northern routes and order at least 120
new carriages over the course of the franchise.
History In 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority
announced that it planned to reorganise the North West Regional Railways and
Regional Railways North East franchises operated by First North Western and
Arriva Trains Northern. A TransPennine Express franchise would be created for
the long-distance regional services, with the remaining services to be
operated by a new Northern franchise. On 1 July 2004 the Strategic Rail
Authority awarded the franchise to Serco-NedRailways, beating FirstGroup.
The franchise was awarded for six years and nine months, with a two-year
extension subject to performance targets being achieved.
Serco-NedRailways' bid had assumed that some Class 142 Pacer trains would be
released imminently when Manchester Metrolink services started between
Manchester and Oldham. Due to a substantial delay in extending the
Metrolink, it became clear that this was not going to be the case. As a result
the contract signing was delayed, and the services operated by First North
Western and Arriva Trains Northern did not transfer to Northern until 12
December 2004. In May 2010 the Department for Transport
confirmed that Northern had met the performance targets, and the franchise
was extended for two years until September 2013. In May 2012 the
Department for Transport granted Northern a six-month extension until 31
March 2014. In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the
franchise would be further extended to February 2016.
In August 2014, the Department for Transport announced Abellio, Arriva and
Govia had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise.
Services = Additional services=
In December 2008 Northern Rail introduced an express service from Leeds
to Nottingham calling at Wakefield Kirkgate, Barnsley, Meadowhall,
Sheffield, Dronfield, Chesterfield, Alfreton and Langley Mill using a Class
158 unit. In May 2015 Northern Rail announced the
re-introduction of a direct service between Blackburn to Manchester Victoria
via Burnley following the reopening of the Todmorden Curve. The service
operates hourly, seven days a week. = Former services=
Services on the route from Thorpes Bridge Junction, Newton Heath to
Rochdale East Junction via Oldham, known as the Oldham Loop Line, ceased on 3
October 2009. The line was subsequently converted for Manchester Metrolink
operation and reopened as a Metrolink route in 2012.
Performance Northern Rail won Public Transport
Operator of the Year 2007 at the National Transport Awards and was
praised by the judges for attracting 20% more passengers since 2004. When the
extension of its franchise was announced, Northern stated that it had
improved punctuality from 83.7% in the 12 months to December 2004 to 91.6% in
the 12 months to May 2010, meaning that around 200 more trains per day were on
time than in 2004. In the period 15 October 2009 to 14
November 2009, Northern's punctuality was 91.1% and reliability was 92.2%.
Northern's passenger charter targets are 91% for punctuality and 99% for
reliability. The franchise agreement commits to a 15%
reduction in delays in the first five years and to a new 'incentive/penalty
regime' and a more 'local focus on performance'.
The latest official figures released by NR rate punctuality at 91.9% and an MAA
of 90.7% for period 7 and the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.
The annual report for 2012, published in March 2013, of the Nederlandse
Spoorwegen stated that Northern Rail transported 263,000 passengers daily.
The customer satisfaction decreased to 80%. In May 2011 Northern Rail received
the "Sustainable Business of the Year" award.
Rolling stock Northern Rail operates a large diesel
fleet, which is used on most services. There is also a smaller electric fleet
used on shorter distance services around Leeds and Manchester and on services
between Liverpool and Manchester. Northern inherited a fleet of Class 142,
Class 144, Class 150, Class 153 Class 155, Class 156, Class 158, Class 321.
Class 323 and Class 333s from Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western.
In October 2006 Northern leased six former Central Trains Class 158s that
had been on loan to First Great Western. In March 2007 Northern announced it
would be acquiring a further 30 Class 158s from Arriva Trains Wales, Central
Trains and First Great Western to replace 26 Class 142 Pacers. Northern
ended up only receiving 19 Class 158s, but did gain eight centre carriages from
East Midlands Trains in 2008 that were inserted into Northern’s ex First North
Western Class 158s. 12 Class 142 Pacers were placed in store but reactivated by
the end of 2008 when they were sublet to First Great Western from December 2008
and the balance returning to service with Northern.
In Autumn 2008 five Class 142 Pacers returned from First Great Western with
the remaining seven following in Autumn 2011.
From December 2008 until December 2011 Northern leased three Class 180s for use
on Blackpool North to Manchester Victoria and Hazel Grove services.
From July 2011 Northern received 18 Class 150s from London Midland. From
October 2011, five Class 322s from First ScotRail entered service.
In January 2015 it was confirmed that Chiltern Railways would take five of the
First TransPennine Express Class 170s from May 2015. First TransPennine
Express will sublease Class 156 trains from Northern Rail to cover the
shortfall until February 2016. In March 2015 the first Class 319 units
entered service on the Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport service.
= Current fleet= Stations
As of 2009, Northern Rail operated 471 stations; more than any other train
operating company in the UK. The number fell to 462 later in the same year
following closure of the Oldham Loop Line, and increased to 463 by 2013. New
stations include Buckshaw Parkway in 2011 and James Cook in 2014. As of 2013,
trains operated by Northern Rail called at 526 stations.
Depots The depots used by Northern Rail are at:
Hull Botanic Gardens Blackpool North LMD
Barrow-in-Furness Carlisle Station
Heaton Neville Hill
Newton Heath Sheffield Station
Workington Buxton
Allerton Train Crew Depots
Leeds York
Newcastle Darlington
Middlesbrough Carlisle
Workington Blackpool North
Liverpool Lime Street Wigan Wallgate
Manchester Victoria Manchester Piccadilly
Buxton Sheffield
Skipton Huddersfield
Harrogate Hull Paragon
Barrow-in-Furness Doncaster
Criticism Northern Rail operates a total of 102
Pacer trains, more than any other train operator in Britain. These were built on
a low budget during the 1980s recession and the upper body is based on a Leyland
National bus. Many passengers are unhappy with the ride quality of these
trains, noting that they provide an uncomfortable ride, are very noisy when
going around bends, and are far too small for the number of passengers
travelling today. One politician has even said they are not safe, but this
was strongly denied by the company and the government. High fares in non-PTE
areas adds to criticism about what some called life-expired trains being used.
Northern Rail has a tough approach on fare evasion, and has been known to take
passengers to court for underpaying by a matter of pence even where the company
has no concrete proof. Northern Rail tried to prosecute one passenger who
they claimed had tried to avoid paying part of his fare but the court case
failed, costing Northern over £2,000 in legal fees. The court case was believed
to have failed as Northern requires some passengers to carry special tickets
saying which station they boarded at and tried to use that as evidence of
attempting to combat fare evasion by not having passengers paying for shorter
journeys than they make. However, any such requirement to force a passenger to
produce a special ticket to prove where they boarded would be a breach of the
National Rail Conditions of Carriage, to which both passengers and rail operators
must adhere. Due to increased passenger numbers,
Northern has installed new ticket machines at some stations. However,
these do not sell the full range of tickets, for instance they do not sell
Cheap Evening Returns, so that in the evening passengers can pay double the
fare that they need to pay for the journey they are making, if they
purchase tickets from the machine. Northern Duo tickets are also
unavailable from these machines and can be purchased only from an open ticket
office or on the train. Gallery
References External links
Northern Rail official website Abellio Group official website