Andrew recently met with Alex Hynes, managing director of Arriva Rail North Ltd, to discuss the Northern Rail Passenger Franchise and planned improvements across Northern’s network locally.
Arriva was awarded the Northern Rail Passenger Franchise by the government last December (2015) and their services will run for nine years, from 1st April 2016 until 31st March 2025, with a possible extension of 1 year at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Transport.
Northern have confirmed that the new Northern franchise will benefit from a £1 billion investment to provide better trains, more services, faster journeys, with more customer-facing staff, simpler ticketing and improved station facilities.
The planned improvements include every train across the network being either brand new or fully refurbished to ‘like new standards’ by 2019. This investment in rolling stock will see the removal of the outdated pacer trains, which are scheduled to be completely removed from the network by 2019!
In addition, all trains will be fully accessible by 2020 – in accordance with the new guidelines – and will include free on-board Wi-Fi, tables and air conditioning on all trains. There will also be additional seating, as Northern looks to provide an additional 15% seating capacity on their services.
The new trains will be able to run at 100mph, meaning that Northern can look at options for cutting journey times and reviewing services. An additional 2,000 services per week across the network are currently being planned by 2019. From December next year, Northern have confirmed that there will be additional Sunday services, and more services both earlier and later during the week, as part of their first phase of additional services across the network.
As well as service improvements, Northern have committed to a programme of introducing new facilities at more than 243 stations, costing up to £38 million, which will make it simpler to buy tickets and access information. Goole is currently scheduled to receive a video helpdesk and real-time customer information for services. Northern are also looking at ways to improve the access to the station for users.
Andrew reports, “These planned improvements will make a big difference for local rail users, as Northern looks to introduce an improved, modern service across the network locally.
I met with the train operators last year to push for improved services and I’m pleased that Northern have committed to providing additional services and significant improvements to both trains and stations locally. I’m sure that passengers will join me in welcoming a date for the replacement of the outdated pacer trains.
During the meeting, I asked Northern to look at the current services between Goole and Leeds as part of their review of services across the network, to consider any extra services that could be added on this route. I will keep residents updated on this and any other updates I receive about local services, as improvements on both of our area’s rail franchises progress.”
You can learn more here: http://www.arrivarailnorth.org/
Photo - Andrew with Alex Hynes, managing director of Arriva Rail North Ltd
