Fleet size 20 Parent company Northern | National Rail abbreviation NT | |
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Franchise(s) Northern
(1 April 2016–present) Stations called at (Main)
Liverpool Lime Street
Manchester Airport
Manchester Victoria
Wigan North Western
Warrington Bank Quay
Preston
Blackpool North (In 2018) Website www.northernrailway.co.uk | ||
Northern Electrics is a brand of electric commuter rail services introduced in 2015, operated by Northern. The services operate on the Liverpool to Manchester (via Chat Moss) and Liverpool to Wigan lines.
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As a result of complete electrification of these lines by state track operator Network Rail, they became capable of taking more trains at a higher speed, with raised punctuality, reliability and with considerably less pollution than diesel. The first complete day of Northern Electrics services was 22 May 2015.
History
State rail infrastructure owner Network Rail began electrification of the lines between Manchester and Liverpool in 2013 as part of its Northern Hub upgrade programme. The work was completed in February 2015.
The first electric services between Liverpool and Manchester commenced on 5 March 2015—the first service operated by Northern Electrics being the Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport route.
As part of Northern Rail's plans for operation of the newly electrified Liverpool to Manchester lines, an initial 20 Class 319/3 units were transferred from Thameslink following a repaint and internal refresh. 12 units launched the services early in 2015, with the remaining 8 units due to enter traffic for Northern Electrics in September the same year.
The Class 319s have largely replaced Class 142 Pacer, Class 150 Sprinter and Class 156 Super Sprinter diesel multiple unit stock that were once the mainstay of services between Liverpool and Manchester.
Branding
The Northern Electrics livery is different to the current standard Northern livery - featuring "Northern Electrics" logos and a different design which has a greater emphasis on purple.
Routes
As of December 2015, the routes operated by Northern Electrics are:
Also, there are limited services to/from Blackpool North which are still DMUs and this route is not electrified. On Weekends, services between Liverpool and Warrington Bank Quay are still operated by Class 150s, Class 142s and Class 156 units as less class 319s operate on weekends. The 1800 service from Liverpool Lime Street to Preston is run by DMU on Saturdays.
Further services between Liverpool/Manchester and Preston/Blackpool will be added when Network Rail completes electrification of the Preston to Blackpool lines in 2017.