Northern Spirit
Encyclopedia
This article is about the railway company Northern Spirit. For the Australia
n football (soccer)
club of the same name, see Northern Spirit FC
.
Northern Spirit was a UK
train operating company
which ran local and regional train services in the north east of England during the late 1990s.
sector during privatisation
, the company operated a network of local and regional train services centred on the north east of England. Also extending into England's north west and operating the long distance TransPennine Express service, its services covered over 1,200 miles of the British rail network and employed over 2,800 staff in 1997.
The company was originally known as Regional Railways North East and this name was retained for over a year after privatisation, with the Northern Spirit brand introduced during May 1998.
renamed the franchise as Arriva Trains Northern
, with services ultimately being divided between new franchisees Northern Rail
and First TransPennine Express
during 2004.
The network was heavily subsidised, receiving over £223 million in funding during the last year of nationalised operation by British Rail against passenger revenue of under £76 million.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club of the same name, see Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit Football Club was a football club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season...
.
Northern Spirit was a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
train operating company
Train operating company
The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...
which ran local and regional train services in the north east of England during the late 1990s.
Operations
Created from part of British Rail's Regional RailwaysRegional Railways
Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1996, 3 years after privatisation. The sector was originally called Provincial....
sector during privatisation
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
, the company operated a network of local and regional train services centred on the north east of England. Also extending into England's north west and operating the long distance TransPennine Express service, its services covered over 1,200 miles of the British rail network and employed over 2,800 staff in 1997.
The company was originally known as Regional Railways North East and this name was retained for over a year after privatisation, with the Northern Spirit brand introduced during May 1998.
Franchising and ownership
Originally let to transport company MTL for a seven year term beginning on 2 March 1997, the company was sold in 2000 after MTL ran into financial difficulty. New owners ArrivaArriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
renamed the franchise as Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Yorkshire and the North East of England. The company had previously been known as Northern Spirit before being taken over by Arriva....
, with services ultimately being divided between new franchisees Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
and First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines...
during 2004.
The network was heavily subsidised, receiving over £223 million in funding during the last year of nationalised operation by British Rail against passenger revenue of under £76 million.