Northern Electrics

For the former name of railway services from Kings Cross and Moorgate, see Great Northern Route.

Northern Electrics

File:NorthernRailElectrics.png 319363 at Liverpool Lime Street in 2015
Website	www.northernrailway.co.uk

Northern Electrics was a brand of electric commuter rail services introduced in 2015, operated by Northern Trains. The services operated on the Liverpool to Manchester (via Chat Moss) and Liverpool to Wigan lines.

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 and with raised reliability. The first complete day of Northern Electrics services was 22 May 2015.

Class 323s and Class 331s also operated on these services, but it was largely unknown if they are a part of Northern Electrics.

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 units that were once the mainstay of services between Liverpool and Manchester.

Several class 323 units started working on most Northern Electrics services from May 2018 after the Liverpool to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport services as well as an extension to Crewe station from Manchester Airport station combined to make a new Liverpool Lime street to Crewe service.

In July 2019, Class 331s (alongside Class 195) were also introduced on Northern, operating most of the lines on Northern Electrics.

In August 2019, it was confirmed that all 319s would leave Northern to be replaced by 17 Class 323 units operated by West Midlands Trains. This is expected to occur once new rolling stock is in operation with West Midlands Trains in 2021.

Branding

The Northern Electrics livery was different to the standard Northern Rail livery - featuring "Northern Electrics" logos and a different design which has a greater emphasis on purple.

No trains carry the Northern Electrics livery anymore.

Routes

As of December 2015, the routes operated by Northern Electrics are:

• Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport (1 tph)
• Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Victoria (1 tph)
• Liverpool Lime Street/Liverpool South Parkway to Preston (1 tph)
• Liverpool Lime Street to Wigan North Western (2 tph)
• Liverpool Lime Street to Warrington Bank Quay (1 tph)
• Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport (1 tph)
• Liverpool Lime Street to Blackpool North (1 tph) (Introduced in 2018)
• Liverpool Lime Street to Crewe (1 tph) (Introduced in 2018)

When Northern Electrics was introduced, there were limited services to/from Blackpool North which were still DMUs and this route was not electrified at the time. On weekends, services between Liverpool and Warrington Bank Quay were still operated by Class 150s, Class 142s and Class 156 units as fewer class 319s operated on weekends. The 18:00 service from Liverpool Lime Street to Preston, the 06:44 service from Wigan North Western to Liverpool Lime Street, the 07:38 service from Manchester Victoria to Liverpool Lime Street and the 08:38 service from Manchester Victoria to Liverpool Lime Street were run by DMUs on Saturdays.

All diesel traction was gradually phased out after all class 319 units were delivered. Several class 323 units also started working on most Northern Electrics services from May 2018 after the Liverpool to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Piccadilly services combined to make a new service. Class 331s also worked aside from the class 319s and class 323s from July 2019.

Further services between Liverpool/Manchester and Preston/Blackpool were added when Network Rail completed electrification of the Preston to Blackpool lines in 2018.

Rolling stock

Fleet	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 319/3 & 319/4		EMU	100	161	24 (319/3), 8 (319/4)	Liverpool Lime Street–Manchester Airport Liverpool Lime Street–Manchester Victoria Liverpool Lime Street–Wigan North Western Liverpool Lime Street-Warrington Bank Quay Liverpool Lime Street/Liverpool South Parkway-Preston Manchester Piccadilly-Manchester Airport Liverpool Lime Street-Blackpool North Liverpool Lime Street-Crewe Further services between Liverpool/Manchester and Preston/Blackpool upon completion of electrification.	1990 (319/3) 1987-88 (319/4)

Gallery

• 

  319363 at Liverpool Lime Street

• 

  Interior of 319363, near Newton-le-Willows

• 

  Side of Northern 319380

• 

  319380 at Wigan North Western

• 

  319363 at Manchester Oxford Road

References

• Porterbrook Brochure

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