Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English
train operating company
In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...
owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in
Northern England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
, and operated the most stations of any train operating company in the United Kingdom. Northern Rail was replaced on 1 April 2016 by
Arriva Rail North
Arriva Rail North Limited, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary ...
.
History
In 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it planned to reorganise the Regional Railways North West 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 Rail franchise.
On 1 July 2004 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to Serco-NedRailways, beating
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. 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
Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...
services started between
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and
Oldham
Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...
. 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
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of 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
The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
announced the franchise would be further extended to February 2016.
In August 2014, the Department for Transport announced
Abellio
Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god ...
,
Arriva
Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
and Govia had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise.
On 9 December 2015, it was announced that Arriva trading as
Arriva Rail North
Arriva Rail North Limited, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary ...
had been awarded a new franchise to run from 1 April 2016 through to March 2025.
Before Abellio and Serco's Northern Rail franchise came to an end, unit 158906 received a refurbishment on one of its carriages which included free Wi-Fi, destination displays showing the expected time of arrival, and USB ports at each table.
Services
Additional services
In December 2008 Northern Rail introduced an express service from to calling at , , , , , , and using a unit. The 10:17 service from Sheffield on Sundays continues to Carlisle creating a direct train service between Sheffield and Carlisle for the first time since the demise of British Rail. The service returns from Carlisle at 15:10.
In May 2015 Northern Rail announced the re-introduction of a direct service between Blackburn and 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
Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883.
Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...
to
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
East Junction via Oldham, known as the Oldham Loop Line, ceased on 3 October 2009. The line was subsequently converted for
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...
operation and reopened as a Metrolink route in 2012.
Northern Electrics was a brand offering electrified rail from Liverpool to Manchester.
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 Rail 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 Rail's passenger charter targets were 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 (
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
) rate punctuality ( PPM) at 91.9% and an MAA of 90.7% for period 7 (2013/2014) and the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.
The annual report for 2012, published in March 2013, of the 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.
Criticism
Approach to fare evasion
Northern Rail had a reputation for its rather tough approach on fare evasion, and was known to take passengers to court for underpaying by a matter of pence.
Rolling stock
Northern Rail operated a large diesel fleet, which was used on most services. There was also a smaller electric fleet used on shorter distance services around Leeds and Manchester and on services between Liverpool and Manchester.
Northern Rail inherited a fleet of Class 142, 144, 150, 153, 155, 156 and 158diesel multiple units and Class 321, 323 and 333
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...
s from Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western.
In October 2006 Northern Rail leased six former Central Trains Class 158s that had been on loan to First Great Western.
In March 2007 Northern Rail 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''. In the event, Northern Rail received only 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. Twelve of the Class 142s were placed in store, then sublet to First Great Western from late 2007; five were returned to Northern Rail in the autumn of 2008 with the remaining seven following in the autumn of 2011.
From December 2008 until December 2011 Northern Rail leased three Class 180s for use on to and services.
From July 2011 Northern Rail received 18 Class 150s from
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...
First ScotRail
First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015.
On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, ScotRai ...
.
In March 2015 the first Class 319s entered service on the to service.
Fleet at end of franchise
Stations
In 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,Action stations booklet , Network Rail, 2009
and increased to 463 by 2013.Transformation in Partnership – Northern Prospectus Department for Transport, June 2014 New stations include Buckshaw Parkway in 2011, and
James Cook
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
in 2014. By 2013, trains operated by Northern Rail called at 526 stations.
Depots
The maintenance depots used by Northern Rail were located at:
The train crew depots were located at:
To run the Cleethorpes to Barton service, one class 153 was stabled at Cleethorpes overnight and was cleaned, the train crew which ran the service were First TransPennine Express staff.