Arriva Trains Northern

Arriva Trains Northern

Overview
Franchise(s)	Regional Railways North East 18 February 2000 – 11 December 2004
Main region(s)	North East, Yorkshire
Other region(s)	North West, North Midlands
Fleet size	169 until February 2004, 141 after
Parent company	Arriva
Reporting mark	AN

Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from February 2000 until December 2004.

History

The Regional Railways North East franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to MTL with the franchise commencing on 2 March 1997. Originally trading as Regional Railways North East it was rebranded Northern Spirit in May 1998 with longer distance services running under the TransPennine Express brand. On 18 February 2000 MTL was purchased by Arriva.

Services

Arriva Trains Northern operated a mix of long distance regional, local urban and rural passenger services in the North of England and Yorkshire extending across the Pennines.

The network extended from Carlisle and Newcastle in the north to Scarborough, Hull and Cleethorpes on the east coast down to Sheffield and across to Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool and Morecambe on the West Coast. The long distance regional services connecting Sunderland, Newcastle, Scarborough and Hull with Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool were operated under the TransPennine Express banner, the rest as Arriva Trains Northern.

Northern Spirit had introduced a daily Leeds to Glasgow Central via the Settle & Carlisle and West Coast Main Lines in September 1999. This service ceased in September 2003 at the request of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Main article: List of Northern Rail routes

Arriva Trains Northern's non TransPennine Express routes were similar to Northern Rail's current Routes 1-5, 7 and 8.

Problems

During the first half of the franchise period, Arriva Trains Northern suffered many problems. Carried over from the Northern Spirit era, a shortage of drivers and rolling stock lead to many cancellations on a daily basis. An emergency timetable was later brought in which cancelled many services on a permanent basis rather than random as before. A long running dispute with the RMT union lead to a prolonged period of industrial action.

Rolling Stock

An Arriva Trains Northern Mark 2 carriage at Carlisle

Arriva Trains Northern inherited a fleet of Class 142, Class 144, Class 150, Class 155, Class 156, Class 158, Class 308 and Class 321s from Northern Spirit. In 2000 16 Class 333s that had been ordered by Northern Spirit to replace the Class 308s, entered service.

A shortage of available rolling stock to meet increasing demand led Arriva Trains Northern to lease Class 37s and Mark 2 carriages from EWS to top and tail a daily service from Leeds to Carlisle for 12 months from September 2003.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 142 Pacer		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	6	1985-1987
Class 144 Pacer		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	23	1986-1987
Class 150 Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	10	1985-1987
Class 153 Super Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	20	1987-1988
Class 155 Super Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	7	1987-1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	46	1987-1989
Class 158 Express Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	90	145	38	1989-1992
Class 308		Electric multiple unit	75	120	33	1961
Class 321		Electric multiple unit	100	160	3	1991
Class 333		Electric multiple unit	100	160	16	2000

Depots

Arriva Trains Northern's fleet was maintained at Heaton and Neville Hill depots.

Demise

In 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it planned to create a new TransPennine Express franchise transferring Arriva Train Northern's long distance regional services with the remainder to be combined with those of the Regional Railways North West franchise to form a new Northern Rail franchise.

On 28 July 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the TransPennine franchise to First/Keolis with services operated by Arriva Trains Northern transferring to First TransPennine Express on 1 February 2004.

On 1 July 2004 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Northern franchise to Abellio/Serco with the remaining services operated by Arriva Trains Northern transferring to Northern Rail on 12 December 2004.