Northern is the largest franchise in England thanks to the length of its network and serves more than 500 stations north of Derby. It also receives the largest government grant for its operations, which last year amounted to $763 million, including indirect funds for access to the tracks. In October 2019, the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, submitted a request for proposals to the incumbent operator Arriva and the operator of last resort, which would lead to the end of the franchise with Arriva in order to take over a short-term management contract or the operator of the last medium. [6] The DfT decided to terminate the franchise with the last-guessing operator to take over the franchise. [7] [8] [9] Last week, Shapps stated that the future of another, the South West Railway, was questionable after the First Group-MTR joint venture declared that it was short of money. Questions are also asked about the De TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains franchises. Ursula Katz, 75, who visits Hebden Bridge in Manchester three times a week to care for her grandchildren, said her service had often been delayed or cancelled, especially on weekends. “Trains only run every hour, then they`ll cancel, and you`ll have to wait an hour for the next one, and it`s just standing,” she said. These documents are part of the public register of franchise agreements. Please email requests for franchise agreements to rail.publicregister@dft.gov.uk.
Northern took over the franchise in April 2016, with a contract term until 2025. However, train traffic on the northern network was marred by problems, many of which were in the hands of OCD. As a result, the government decided to remove Northern from its franchise and become the last instance operator (OOLR) operated as Northern Trains. In addition, the new franchisee has set up a body whose members are constantly consulted on how services will be delivered. Leaders from North Manchester, Liverpool, Tees Valley and Yorkshire will join the body. The committee is chaired by Richard George, chairman of the new operator. At the event take Robin Gisby, President of Northern Trains Ltd and CEO of DOHL (DfT OLR Holdings Ltd). The move means the Conservatives have nationalized two major rail franchises in less than two years after taking over the East Coast line in June 2018, which is now operating as LNER after the collapse of Virgin Trains East Coast. “The scale of the challenges we faced outside of our direct control was unprecedented, particularly with respect to delayed or cancelled infrastructure projects and prolonged strikes. Despite the challenges, the team introduced new trains to the network for the first time in a generation.
They introduced more than 2,000 additional services per week, renovated trains and stations, and created hundreds of new customer-oriented jobs as part of a $600 million northern investment program.