Northern Rail
Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a train operating company that has operated local services in the north of England since 2004. The franchise was won by a consortium formed of NedRailways (the English unit of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the state-owned train operating company of the Netherlands) and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems. This consortium had already won the contract to operate the Merseyrail network earlier in 2003.
Serco-NedRailways was announced as the 'preferred bidder' for the Northern franchise by the SRA on 1 July 2004, and signed the agreement to operate the franchise on 19 October. However, the new operators did not actually commence ownership and take over from the previous incumbents (First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern) until 12 December 2004. Most of the former Arriva long-distance routes were separated out into the Transpennine Express franchise, won by First and Keolis; Northern was left with a mix of commuter routes around Manchester and West and South Yorkshire, rural branch lines, and some longer-distance stopping services (e.g. York-Blackpool via Manchester Victoria). Some services are supported by Passenger Transport Executives.
The franchise is planned to run for a maximum of 8 years and 9 months, depending on how well Serco-NedRailways perform. As the media have reported throughout, the franchise does not require them to purchase new trains, but there have been rumours of a large fleet of Chinese-built diesel multiple units being purchased at a cost of £650,000 per carriage - a substantially lower price than their European competitors. The franchise agreement commits only to a 15% reduction in delays before 2009 and to a new 'incentive/penalty régime' and 'local focus on performance'.
Northern Rail leases a fleet comprised of diesel and electric multiple units and has not continued First and Arriva's practice of hiring locomotive-hauled trains.
| Timetable Number | Route |
|---|---|
| 1 | Morpeth to Newcastle and MetroCentre |
| 2 | Middlesbrough to Newcastle and MetroCentre (Durham Coast Line) |
| 3 | Newcastle and Bishop Auckland to Saltburn (Tees Valley Line) |
| 4 | Sunderland and Newcastle to Carlisle (Tyne Valley Line) |
| 5 | Middlesbrough to Whitby (Esk Valley Line) |
| 6 | Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness to Preston and Manchester (Cumbrian Coast Line and Furness Line) |
| 7 | Route not in use |
| 8 | Preston to Blackpool composite |
| 9 | Colne, Burnley and Blackburn to Preston and Blackpool |
| 10 | Liverpool to Wigan, Preston and Blackpool and Preston to Ormskirk |
| 11 | Bolton to Manchester and Manchester Airport |
| 12 | Manchester to Blackburn and Clitheroe |
| 13 | Blackpool to Manchester, Manchester Airport and Buxton |
| 14 | Manchester and Manchester to Southport and Kirkby |
| 15 | Liverpool to Manchester Airport and Warrington Bank Quay via Earlestown |
| 16 | Liverpool to Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington Central |
| 17 | Manchester to Chester via Altrincham |
| 18 | Manchester, Manchester Airport and Stockport to Crewe |
| 19 | Manchester to Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent |
| 20 | Manchester to Buxton |
| 21 | Route not in Use |
| 22 | Manchester to New Mills Central and Rose Hill Marple |
| 23 | Manchester to Sheffield (The Hope Valley Line) |
| 24 | Manchester to Hadfield and Glossop |
| 25 | Manchester to Wakefield and Huddersfield |
| 26 | Manchester to Rochdale via Oldham and Moston |
| 27 | Leeds to Carlisle and Morcambe and Lancaster to Heysham |
| 28 | Leeds to Manchester Victoria, Selby to Huddersfield and York to Blackpool |
| 29 | York to Leeds via Harrogate |
| 30 | Hull to York, Leeds, Doncaster & Sheffield and York to Sheffield via Pontefract Baghill |
| 31 | Barton-upon-Humber to Cleethorpes |
| 32 | Hull to Scarborough (Yorkshire Coast Line) |
| 33 | Sheffield to Lincoln |
Northern Rail Stock List
| Class | Quantity | Unit numbers
|
|---|---|---|
| 142
| 80
| 142001, 003–005, 007, 009, 011–058, 060–068, 070–071, 078–079, 084, 086–096
|
| 144
| 23
| 144001–023
|
| 150
| 42
| 150133–150, 201, 203, 205, 207–208, 211, 215, 218, 222–225, 228, 268–277
|
| 153
| 20
| 153301, 304, 307, 315–317, 319, 324, 328, 330–332, 351–352, 357–360, 363, 378
|
| 155
| 7
| 155341–347
|
| 156
| 46
| 156420–421, 423–429, 438, 440–441, 443–444, 448, 451–452, 454–455, 459–462, 464, 466, 468–473, 475, 479–484, 486–491, 497–498
|
| 158
| 19
| 158752–759, 787, 901–910
|
| 321
| 3
| 321901–903
|
| 323
| 17
| 323223–239
|
| 333
| 16
| 333001–016
|
External links
- [Northern Rail official website]
- [A train in the new Northern Rail livery, picture by Tony Miles]
- [Serco-NedRailways official website]
| Current scheduled passenger train operators in Great Britain and Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Domestic: | Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - First TransPennine Express - Grand Central Railway1 Great North Eastern Railway>GNER - Heathrow Connect - Hull Trains - Island Line - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline Northern Rail - Northern Ireland Railways2 - one - Silverlink - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains - Virgin Trains |
| International: | Enterprise 2 - Eurostar |
| Airport Link: | Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express3 |
| Sleeper: | Caledonian Sleeper4 - Night Riviera5 |
| 1 Starts December 2006 – 2 Operated on the Irish railway network - 3 Operated by one 4 Operated by First ScotRail – 5 Operated by First Great Western | |
Youth Fare valid for adults under 26
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