This article is about the current operator of the Northern franchise. For the previous operator of the Northern franchise, see Arriva Rail North.
Northern
A Northern Class 331 in November 2023 at Stoke-on-Trent
Overview
Franchise(s)
Northern
Main region(s)
North East
North West
Yorkshire and the Humber
Other region(s)
East Midlands
West Midlands
Fleet size
368[4]
Stations called at
474[5]
Parent company
DfT OLR Holdings
Headquarters
York[3]
Reporting mark
NT[1]
Dates of operation
1 March 2020 (2020-03-01) – 1 March 2025 (2025-03-01)[2]
Predecessor
Arriva Rail North
Other
Website
www.northernrailway.co.uk
Route map
Northern Trains,[6] trading as Northern, is a British train operating company owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail North had its franchise terminated at the end of February 2020.
The company commenced operating the Northern franchise on 1 March 2020, taking over from Arriva Rail North. The prior operator had its franchise terminated early by the DfT in January 2020 amid widespread dissatisfaction over its performance, particularly in respect of poorly implemented timetable changes. The DfT had opted to hand the operation of the franchise over to the operator of last resort. At the commencement of operations, Northern publicly stated that its immediate aims were to improve service reliability and to proceed with the introduction of new rolling stock. For the latter, both the Class 195 diesel multiple units and Class 331 electric multiple units were brought into service fully during December 2020.
Services have been disrupted by wider events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. Northern is also being impacted by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes, the largest national rail strikes in the UK in three decades.
^"National Rail Enquiries - Northern". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference 2022contract was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"About Northern". www.northernrailway.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Clifton, Paul (19 April 2023). "What customers want has changed". Rail Magazine. No. 981. pp. 24–27.
^"Northern Trains Limited". Companies House. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
NorthernTrains, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the...
Arriva TrainsNorthern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997...
new-built trains: the diesel Class 195 and electric Class 331. Introduced into service in July 2019, these were the first new-build trains for the Northern franchise...
company has four active subsidiaries; London North Eastern Railway, NorthernTrains, Southeastern and TransPennine Express. In May 2023 DfT OLR Holdings...
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subsequently transferred to Northern Rail, Central Trains, South West Trains and First Great Western. Following a franchise change, all Northern units were passed...
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from the east; through trains from London to Scotland would reverse in the new station. Newcastle and Carlisle Railway trains would of course enter from...
(BMU) converted by Brush Traction, and running in service with NorthernTrains. The train is a conversion of the existing Class 319 electric multiple unit...
and Class 171 units. These trains are currently in use with CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, ScotRail and NorthernTrains. The Class 170 diesel multiple...
train operating company that operates the TSGN rail franchise. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands: Thameslink, Great Northern...
existing Class 156 units. A number of these units started to transfer to NorthernTrains from December 2021 onwards, at which point they were returned to their...
train built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Holgate Road carriage works for use on north–south cross-London services. These dual-voltage trains...
North Western Trains units underwent refurbishment by Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock. The Arriva TrainsNortherntrains did not. When Northern Rail took over...
units will be operated by NorthernTrains. The units are known for their rapid acceleration, being the fastest accelerating trains on the UK rail network...
Holes (1tp2h) and Buxton. Additional trains run at peak times. Middlewood and Dove Holes are served by alternate trains. 1tph to Hazel Grove calling at Levenshulme...
renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva TrainsNorthern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains, commenced running...
Merseyrail commenced replacing its train fleet, withdrawing the Class 507 and 508 trains and introducing 53 new Class 777 trains. The network carried 25.5 million...
Hull Trains was originally established in 1999 in the aftermath of the privatisation of British Rail in response to the low volume of trains between...
transferred to Newton Heath in 2018. On 1 March 2020 the Northern franchise was taken over by NorthernTrains as an Operators last choice by the Department for...
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English...
Awards. On 11 November 2007, East Midlands Trains, an amalgamation of Midland Mainline and part of Central Trains, took over the management of the station...
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