NORTHERN ENGLAND ~ General Updates

Today, I bring you updates from Northern England.


NORTHERN RAIL: 


Firstly, DBSOs 9705/07/10 have been converted for use on the Cumbrian Coast, in Northern Rail colours. These units were previously operating at One Rail before becoming privately owned.

Whilst 98 new trains are added to the fleet, 323s
transfer to London Midland and Pacers are withdrawn.
As announced by Andy last week, Arriva have been awarded the tender to run the Northern Rail franchise from 1st April 2016. As part of the franchise, an Automated Delay Repay compensation system will be introduced for both Season Tickets and Online Advance Tickets. Oyster-style smart tickets are also on the cards! 

Not only this, but over £400 million will be invested by Arriva into a new fleet of 98 trains. As a result, Pacers will be withdrawn by 2019. Furthermore, there will be an additional 2,000 services a week (400 of these are on Sundays). 

By December 2017, 100 new through journey opportunities across regional hubs in the North. Meanwhile, Arriva also promise free WiFi on all train services and at 36 stations by 2019, in order to keep customers informed and entertained.

Class 319s, acquired as part of the current franchise.
A summary of other upgrades include:
  • Give a smart device to all staff
  • £2.2 million investment to upgrade staff rooms
  • 45 of our currently unstaffed stations will be staffed and extended opening hours at 54 locations
  • New retail ticket sale facilities will be provided at 243 stations currently without facilities. Customers will be able to purchase advance tickets up to 15 minutes before train departures.
  • A new direct Liverpool to Glasgow service from December 2018
  • Additional services from Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh from December 2017
  • Doubling the number of Manchester to Newcastle services, and running more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, both from December 2017

FINALLY, TO YORK!

The station and National Railway Museum could be a part of a major project to modernise the area. There will be a new enterprise zone, with 120,000 sq m of office space creating 7,000 new jobs, new homes and "a network of vibrant public squares, green spaces and routes".

A consultation is due to launch soon so people in the city can have their say on what happens to the land. The plans could also see Queen Street Bridge torn down to make more room for buses, bikes, cars, cyclists and pedestrians at the station, while the station could also get a new entrance toward the National Railway Museum (NRM).

The NRM's director Paul Kirkman, said they wanted to bring more people - including York's existing seven million visitors, into the Museum. “We are working on big plans to transform our museum to tell the epic story of railways, increase our contemporary relevance and grow our visitor numbers to over one million per year."

MORE UPDATES FROM THE EAST COAST MAINLINE ON SATURDAY, FROM OUR ECML EDITOR ORSON. ALMOST 'BBC THE APPRENTICE TIME' - B'BYE! Harry
Regards:

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