Northern Trains Limited, trading as Northern, is a state-owned British train operating company that operates local services and medium-distance inter-city routes in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail North had its franchise terminated at the end of February 2020; this was amid widespread dissatisfaction over its performance, particularly in respect of poorly implemented timetable changes.
The company commenced operating the Northern franchise on 1 March 2020; 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 was also affected by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes, the largest national rail strikes in the UK in three decades. Although strikes stopped in 2024, the franchise has been affected by rest day working restrictions that have continued to regularly affect Sunday services into 2026.
Long-term changes will include the replacement of Class 323s with Class 350s in 2027, and procurement of up to 386 new-build trains totalling 896 carriages - with planned introduction from 2030 in two phases with a further phase to be developed. These new trains will replace most of the current fleet including all ageing Sprinter trains, and Class 333 units. The company will benefit from streamlined fleets to reduce both training and maintenance requirements, allowing for operational improvements as well as reduced carbon emissions.
History Background In December 2015, the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded Arriva a contract to operate the Northern franchise as Arriva Rail North. It commenced in April 2016 and was originally scheduled to run until March 2025. 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. Later in 2018, performance continued to suffer, with many passengers protesting and a reduced service on Saturdays due to industrial action. 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.
In June 2019, the DfT's operator of last resort, DfT OLR Holdings (later renamed DfT Operator), conducted due diligence into the franchise believing both the operational and financial performance to be "unsustainable". 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. 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".
On 29 January 2020, the DfT announced its decision to terminate Arriva Rail North as operator of the franchise, to be taken over by the DfT's operator of last resort. 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 DfT OLR Holdings with the stated objective to "stabilise performance and restore reliability for passengers".
Changes and events By mid-2020, Northern had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. From 15 June 2020, both passengers and staff on public transport in England, including Northern 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.
In 2021, Northern was given a contract by the DfT to run services for three years, with an optional extension of a further two years. The contract was updated in 2022, to run until 1 March 2025.
Northern is one of several train operators affected by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes, which were the first national rail strikes in the UK for three decades. Its workers are amongst those who voted to take industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. Northern 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 minimal timetable due to the number of staff involved.
Services Northern took over all the services operated by Arriva Rail North on 1 March 2020.
Table of off-peak services Below is a simplified list of frequent Monday to Saturday off-peak services, as of December 2025 timetables:
North East Northumberland Line and East Coast Main Line Route Calling at – 2 Newcastle – 1 2 trains per day continue to , calling at , , and Newcastle – – 2 trains per day northbound and 1 train per day southbound Tyne Valley and Durham Coast Lines Route Calling at – 1 Hexham – Newcastle 1 Carlisle – 1 Newcastle – 1 Esk Valley Line Middlesbrough – Tees Valley Line Route Calling at – Darlington 1 Saltburn – 1
North West Furness, Windermere and Cumbrian Coast Lines Route Calling at – 1 4 trains per day each run as Manchester Airport to Windermere, and Lancaster to Carlisle, services instead. Barrow-in-Furness – 1 4 trains per day run as Lancaster to Carlisle services 5 trains per day also call at & – 1 4 trains per day run as Manchester Airport to Windermere services Morecambe branch line Route Calling at Lancaster – 1 Hourly service supplemented/modified by additional trains from . 1 train per day extends to . Liverpool–Wigan and Blackpool branch lines Route Calling at – 2 Liverpool Lime Street – 1 Manchester Airport – Blackpool North 2 Trains either serve Heald Green, Blackrod and Adlington, or Layton. Preston – 1 East Lancashire and Ormskirk branch lines Route Calling at Preston – 1 – Preston 1 Liverpool–Manchester lines Route Calling at Liverpool Lime Street – Manchester Oxford Road 1 Most trains either call at Glazebrook and Chassen Road or Humphrey Park and Trafford Park. Liverpool Lime Street – Warrington Central 1 Liverpool Lime Street – Manchester Airport 1 – Crewe-Manchester, Mid-Cheshire, Stafford–Manchester and Buxton lines Route Calling at Manchester Piccadilly – 1 1 Manchester Piccadilly – Alderley Edge 1 Manchester Piccadilly – 1 Manchester Piccadilly – 1 Manchester Piccadilly – 1 Services either call at Middlewood or Dove Holes. Manchester Piccadilly – Hazel Grove 1 Glossop and Hope Valley Lines Route Calling at Manchester Piccadilly – 2 Manchester Piccadilly – Manchester Piccadilly – 1 Manchester Piccadilly – 1 Manchester–Southport and Kirkby branch lines Route Calling at – Manchester Oxford Road 1 Southport – 1 Bescar Lane, New Lane and Hoscar served by the same trains – Blackburn 1 Ribble Valley line Route Calling at Blackburn – Rochdale 1 – Rochdale 1 Limited Saturday extensions from Clitheroe to calling at , and .
Yorkshire and the Humber Huddersfield Line Route Calling at – 1 Wharfedale and Airedale lines Route Calling at Leeds – 2 Leeds – 2 Bradford Forster Square – Ilkley 2 Leeds – 2 Bradford Forster Square – Skipton 2 Harrogate Line Route Calling at Leeds – 2 Pontefract Line Route Calling at Leeds – 1 2 trains per day extend to , calling at , , and . 1 Wakefield Line Route Calling at Leeds – 1 Leeds – via Wakefield Westgate 1 1 Wakefield Westgate Penistone Line Route Calling at Sheffield – Huddersfield 1 Hallam Line Route Calling at Leeds – Sheffield 1 Leeds – 1 Sheffield–Lincoln line Route Calling at Leeds - 1 Sheffield – See #Parliamentary services below for more. York and Selby Lines Route Calling at Leeds – York 1 Halifax – 1 South Humberside Main Line, Dearne Valley Line and Yorkshire Coast line Route Calling at Doncaster – Sheffield – 1 Sheffield – Doncaster – Hull Paragon 1 Most services call at either or . Sheffield – 1 Bridlington – 1 Settle to Carlisle and Leeds to Morecambe Route Calling at Leeds – Leeds – Calder Valley line Route Calling at – 1 Leeds – 1 Leeds - 1 Leeds – 1
Parliamentary services
Twice weekly on Saturday mornings, once in each direction, Northern operates a parliamentary train on the Stockport–Stalybridge line between and , calling at , and . From 1992 until 2018, this service ran once weekly.
Multiple campaigns were conducted to request increase in services to the line, but in 2022, Transport for Greater Manchester published two surveys in relation to the line.
As of May 2023, there is one train per day between and , via and . This service runs on weekdays only. The service was suspended between January and October 2022, due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between October 1993 and May 2023, this service ran on Saturdays only, but had three trains each way and on weekdays; a few peak services terminated at .
Rolling stock Northern took over all of the rolling stock operated by its predecessor, namely , , , , , , , and diesel multiple units and , , , , and electric multiple units. All Class 321 and 322 units were withdrawn in mid-2020 and moved to Greater Anglia. All Class 153s were sent to storage by December 2021. 23 Class 156 units were transferred from East Midlands Railway, which included eight of the nine Class 156/9 units formerly used by Greater Anglia, although they were renumbered back to 156/4s before the transfer. For the December timetable change in 2022, five more Class 156 units were transferred. The final Class 156 units were delivered in May 2023. The Class 319s were withdrawn on 2 January 2024.
Between October 2023 and July 2024, 17 Class 323 units were transferred from West Midlands Trains to Northern Trains.
Current fleet FamilyClassImageTypeTop speedNumberCarriagesRoutesBuiltmphkm/h Diesel multiple units Sprinter DMU 75 8 3 Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, West Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire19841987 and 66 2 1985198719851987 7 2 York, Leeds, Hull Paragon and Scarborough19871988 67 2 North East, Cumbrian Coast, Lancashire and Cumbria, Merseyside and Cheshire19871989 90 45 2 South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Fylde Coast, North Yorkshire and the North East19901992 8 3 Bombardier Turbostar 100 163 Scarborough - Sheffield, Leeds-York via Harrogate 20032005 CAF Civity 25 2 Manchester - Derbyshire, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds and Barrow in Furness, York-Blackpool, Windermere and Chester - Leeds 20172022 33 3 Electric multiple units Hunslet Transportation Projects/Holec EMU 90 34 3 Manchester-Hadfield, Manchester-Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester-Crewe, Blackpool North - Manchester Airport, and Liverpool-Manchester Airport 19921995 CAF Civity 100 31 3 Blackpool North - Manchester Airport, Liverpool, Leeds - Skipton, Bradford Forster Square, Doncaster, Ilkley, Bradford Forster Square - Skipton, Ilkley 20172020 12 4Electric services in the North West. CAF/Siemens Transportation Systems 16 4 Leeds - Bradford Forster Square, Skipton, Ilkley,Bradford Forster Square - Skipton, Ilkley 20002003 Bi-mode multiple units BR Second Generation (Mark 3) BMU 100 8 4 - , - 20172020 (19871988 as Class 319)
Future fleet In August 2023, Northern issued a tender to acquire a contract for up to 450 new trains to replace the older rolling stock in their fleet.