Silverlink

History

The North London Railways franchise was awarded to National Express on 7 February 1997. National Express commenced operating the franchise on 3 March 1997.

After initially trading as North London Railways, in September 1997 the franchise was rebranded as Silverlink.

The franchise was due to finish on 15 October 2006, but on 11 August 2006 the Department for Transport granted an extension until 10 November 2007.

Branding

Silverlink had two sub-brands:

Silverlink Metro

Silverlink Metro operated these services.

Note: Changes during the franchise period are noted but changes to the lines before and after the franchise are not.

North London Line

† At the end of service on Saturday 9 December 2006 the line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed, as much of the route was duplicated by the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee line, leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line.

West London Line

Shepherd's Bush on the West London Line was due to open under the franchise (with signage in Silverlink colours installed), but platform widening work meant that it finally opened in September 2008 under London Overground management, the signage being replaced with the London Overground roundels by that time.

Watford DC Line

† = also served by the Bakerloo line.

Northampton Line

Northampton Line services ran on the slow lines of the West Coast Main Line.

† Services north of Northampton were taken over by Central Trains from 2005. The route shared rolling stock and parent company with Silverlink, and some through services remained.

Performance

Silverlink was categorised as a London and South East operator by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and was one of the best performing TOCs in this sector with a PPM (Public Performance Measure) of 90.8% for the last quarter of the financial year 2006/7. This figure is for the whole of the day, as opposed to just peak services for which their performance is lower. The figures are slightly down from the previous year, but remain above the sector level of 89.0%.

Silverlink Metro service levels

Despite published performance figures the Silverlink Metro franchise on the North London Line was regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor service, with extremely congested trains and an unreliable service with some trains cancelled shortly before they are due to arrive. A London Assembly report described the service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded". The recent transfer of the service to Transport for London (TfL) has the potential to improve the quality of the service due to upgrade plans which coincide with the extension of the East London line.

A report on the future of the line can be found on the London Assembly website.

Rolling stock

Silverlink inherited a fleet of Class 117, Class 121, Class 313 and Class 321s from British Rail.

To replace the Class 117 and 121s, seven Class 150s were transferred from Central Trains in summer 1999, with an eighth following in 2006. Pending their arrival Silverlink hired Class 31s from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 2 carriages on Bletchley - Bedford services in 1998/99.

In 2003 three Class 508s were transferred from Merseyrail for use on the Watford DC Line.

The Strategic Rail Authority decided to divert thirty four-carriage Siemens Desiro carriages from an order made by South West Trains to provide stock with faster acceleration for the West Coast Main Line operators. They were not allocated to a specific operator but a shared fleet used by both Silverlink and Central Trains, both being National Express train operating companies.

On 16 July 2004, Virgin Trains announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops at Milton Keynes Central, which were used by up to 6,000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, and a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with the temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours.

While awaiting these to arrive, from September 2004 Silverlink introduced two former Virgin Trains Mark 3 sets hauled by Virgin Trains Class 87s and EWS Class 90s on peak hour Northampton services as well as hiring five Class 321s from National Express sister fleet One.

Metro services were operated by Class 313s on the electrified routes, with the Class 508s used exclusively on the Euston - Watford Junction service from 2003.

County services to Northampton and Birmingham were operated by Class 321s joined in 2005 by Class 350s.

The St Albans Abbey line was operated for many years by Class 313s, but later were usually operated by Class 321s with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards.

The non-electrified Bletchley - Bedford and Gospel Oak - Barking services initially used Class 117 and Class 121s before Class 150s took over in 1999.

Depots

Silverlink's fleet was maintained at Bletchley Depot. Following Virgin Trains ceasing to operate electric locomotives, Silverlink's Metro fleet moved to Willesden Depot.

In 2006 Alstom proposed closing Willesden. Closure would have left the Class 508s homeless and the Class 313s having to return to Bletchley Depot which was due to close. On 12 May 2007 Silverlink took over direct running of the depot and its staff for the final six months of its franchise.

Demise

As part of a wider redrawing of the rail franchise map by the Department of Transport, the Silverlink network was to be broken up when it was renewed in November 2007.

The Silverlink Metro services were moved to the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground. On 19 June 2007 Transport for London announced it had awarded the London Overground concession to a Laing Rail/MTR joint venture.

The Silverlink County services were merged with the Central Trains services around Birmingham to create a new West Midlands franchise. On 22 June 2007 the Department for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise to Govia.

Silverlink's services transferred to London Overground Rail Operations and London Midland on 11 November 2007.