CHANGES AHEAD FOR TRANS PENNINE AND NORTHERN FRANCHISES?
Published at 13:12 on Tuesday 17th June 2014
Tags: Northern, TransPennine, DfT, Franchises, Northern Hub, Rolling Stock
Ron Cover
The Department for Transport has released its public consultation on the proposals for the new Northern and TransPennine franchises, both of which are due for renewal in February 2016.
The one of the biggest effects of the new franchises is likely to be the proposed ‘re-mapping’ of certain routes. For example, the DfT are proposing that the Manchester Airport-Blackpool North/Barrow-in-Furness routes, services to Windermere, and those between York-Scarborough and Doncaster-Cleethorpes would move from the TransPennine franchise to Northern, while one train per hour from Hull to Doncaster would move from Northern to TPE, and the Nottingham-Liverpool portion of the current EMT Norwich-Liverpool service would move to TPE. It is also proposed that the Cleethorpes to Barton-on-Humber route would move to the East Midlands franchise, if the Doncaster-Cleethorpes route were to remain with TPE.
The services and service frequency of some TPE operations will be amended following the electrification of the North TransPennine route in 2018, which will no doubt lead to much discussion as to how to serve stations that are not located on the core electrified section, while maximising the use of electric trains. Part of this is one proposal to move the York-Scarborough service, which is currently a TPE working through to Liverpool, to the Northern franchise, and extending the existing Blackpool North to York, via the Calder Valley route, through to Scarborough.
Further details can be found in Issue 413, published 18th June 2014.
