Northern Trains 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 Department for Transport (DfT) in January 2020 amid widespread dissatisfaction over its performance, particularly in respect to 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 Trains 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 195diesel multiple units and Class 331electric multiple units were brought into service fully during December 2020.
Services have been disrupted by wider events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. Northern Trains was also amongst those train operators impacted by the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, the largest national rail strike in the UK in three decades.
History
Background
In December 2015, the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded Arriva a contract to operate the Northern franchise. It commenced in April 2016 and was originally scheduled to run until March 2025.[4][5] Within two years, the franchise was being widely criticised, in particular for troubled implementation of a new timetable in May 2018 that resulted in widespread delays and cancellations.[6][7] Performance later in 2018 continued to be poor, with many passengers protesting and a reduced service on Saturdays due to industrial action.[8][9][10][11] By November 2018, Arriva were re-evaluating their future involvement in the franchise due to a combination of declining passenger numbers as a result of the chaotic May 2018 timetable change and increasing compensation claims as a result of falling punctuality.[12]
In June 2019, the operator of last resort, managed by the DfT, conducted due diligence into the franchise believing the both operational and financial performance to be "unsustainable".[13] In October 2019, the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, issued a request for proposals to incumbent operator Arriva and the operator of last resort, which would result in termination of the franchise with either Arriva to be awarded a short-term management contract or the operator of last resort to take over.[14] In January 2020, Shapps publicly criticised Arriva's operation of the Northern franchise and suggested that the Government may step in to revoke its franchise agreement, bluntly referring to the service as "completely unacceptable".[15]
On 29 January 2020, the DfT announced its decision to terminate Arriva Northern's franchise and that the operator of last resort would take over.[16][17][18] This was the first time that a franchise has been removed from a train operating company due to poor performance since Connex South Eastern in 2003. On 1 March 2020, the franchise became directly operated by the DfT, adopting the brand name 'Northern Trains, with the stated objective to "stabilise performance and restore reliability for passengers".[19][20]
Changes and events
By mid-2020, Northern Trains had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[21][22] From 15 June 2020, both passengers and staff on public transport in England, including Northern Trains services, were required to wear face coverings while travelling, and that anyone failing to do so would be liable to be refused travel or fined.[23][24]
Northern Trains was one of several train operators impacted by the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades.[25] Its workers were amongst those who voted to take industrial action due a dispute over pay and working conditions.[26] Northern Trains urged the travelling public to avoid travelling on its services on any of the planned dates for the strikes, being only capable of operating a very minimalist timetable due to the number of staff involved.[27][28]
Services
Northern took over all the services operated by Arriva Rail North on 1 March 2020.
Table of off-peak services
Below is a list of frequent off-peak services, per May 2022 timetables.[29] It has been slightly simplified due to some routes' irregular service pattern. Due to the extensive nature of the network, it has been split by region, then majority rail line.
3 trains per day have been removed Monday - Saturday until December 2022 resulting in some gaps of 2 hours between services every 5–6 hours. An hourly service runs on a Sunday.
The service is generally hourly but there are some 2-hour gaps throughout the day.
On Sundays 1 train runs every 2 hours creating an hourly service between Leeds and Knottingley when combined with the service via Streethouse, see below.
The service is generally hourly but there are some 2-hour gaps throughout the day.
On Sundays 1 train runs every 2 hours creating an hourly service between Leeds and Knottingley when combined with the service via Castleford, see below.
Monday to Saturday, this currently runs as a rail replacement bus service only between Moorthorpe and York. Train services run on this route between Sheffield and York on Sundays only.[31]
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2022)
Many of the additional services promised at the December 2017 and December 2019 recasts never materialised following the problems which arose at the May 2018 timetable recast (the delayed December 2017 recast.) In January 2021, the government initiated a consultation proposing three options for the May 2022 recast.[32]
Option A involves few changes but does involve reducing the frequency of Buxton services, diverting all Southport services into Manchester Victoria and re-routing Cumbria to Manchester Airport services via Bolton. Option C involves a significant recast to standardise services, which would see at least half-hourly services on most commuter lines in the Manchester area and more evenly spaced services e.g. services every 15 minutes at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme. However, option C does include some non-standard services operating at peak time e.g. Southport to Manchester Oxford Road and Wigan to Hazel Grove. Option B involves making more changes than option A but involves less significant changes than option C would see. Option A would see the fewest services overall, whereas option C would see the most.
[33]
17 Class 323s are to be transferred from West Midlands Trains.[40][41] This will result in the withdrawal of all Class 319 units.[42] 15 Class 156s are to transfer from East Midlands Railway, which includes the 9 Class 156/9s formerly used by Greater Anglia,[43] although they will be renumbered back to 156/4s before they are transferred.[44] The transferral of these units is already underway, with more to follow.[44]
^"Customer Information". Northern OLR Holdings. 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020. Q: What are Northern Trains Limited’s plans for the franchise? Our initial priority is to continue to stabilise performance across the region and restore reliability for customers. We will then explore opportunities to improve the experience for customers.
