First North Western

First North Western[1] was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup, that operated the North West Regional Railways franchise from March 1997 until December 2004.

First North Western

Class 175 Coradia at Crewe in 2003
Overview
Franchise(s)	North West Regional Railways 2 Mar 1997 – 11 Dec 2004
Main region(s)	North West England North Wales
Other region(s)	London Birmingham Yorkshire
Fleet size	184
Stations called at	247
Parent company	FirstGroup
Reporting mark	NW
Successor	First TransPennine Express

History

In the lead up to the privatisation of British Rail, the North Western section of Regional Railways was established. For a brief period from 1989, this section was operated under the short-lived Network NorthWest brand name,[2][3] before becoming North West Regional Railways. The franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to Great Western Holdings,[4][5] with operations commencing on 2 March 1997 under the North Western Trains brand.[6]

On 27 October 1997, a new livery of dark blue with a gold star was unveiled.[7][8] In March 1998, First bought out the other shareholders in Great Western Holdings.[9][10] The business was rebranded from North Western Trains to First North Western in November 1998 with First's corporate blue, pink and white livery adopted.[11][12]

Services

First North Western operated a mix of urban and rural passenger services in North West England and North Wales, radiating out from Manchester to Birmingham, Chester, Holyhead, Liverpool, Blackpool North, Windermere and Sheffield.[13]

In May 1998, North Western Trains commenced services from Manchester Airport and Rochdale to London Euston.[14][15][16] The Manchester Airport service ceased in May 1999[17][18] and the Rochdale service in May 2000.[19]

From May 2003, services from Manchester ceased operating south of Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe.[20]

Rolling stock

First North Western inherited a fleet of Mark 2 carriages, Class 101, 142, 150, 153, 156 and 158 diesel multiple units, and Class 309 and 323 electric multiple units.

To operate the Manchester Airport to London Euston services, Class 322s were hired from West Anglia Great Northern.[21]

First North Western ordered 11 two-carriage and 16 three-carriage Class 175 Coradias to replace the Mark 2 carriages, Class 101s and Class 309s.[22] Originally some were to be 125 mph capable Class 180 Adelantes but this was later changed to an all Class 175 fleet.[23]

Problems with the Class 175s saw locomotive hauled trains reinstated on North Wales services from June 2002, with English Welsh & Scottish Class 47s and First Great Western Mark 2 carriages.[24]

In February 2004, Class 31s were hired from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 2 carriages on Blackpool to Chester services.[25]

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Built
			mph	km/h
101		Diesel multiple unit	75	120	6	1956-1959
142					79	1985-1987
150					27	1984-1987
153					8	1987-1988
156					18	1987-1989
158			90	145	8	1989-1992
175 Coradia			100	160	27	1999-2001
309		electric multiple unit			9	1962-1963
322					4	1990
323			90	145	17	1992-1993

Depots

North Western Trains liveried Class 153 at Carlisle station in August 2004

First North Western's diesel fleet was maintained at Newton Heath Depot, and the electric fleet at Longsight Depot. The Class 175s were maintained at a purpose built depot in Chester.

Demise

In 2000, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it planned to create a new TransPennine Express franchise transferring First North Western's Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere services, with the North Wales Coast Line services transferred to a new Wales & Borders franchise and the remaining services combined with those of Arriva Trains Northern to form a new Northern Rail franchise.[26][27][28]

On 28 September 2003, the North Wales Coast Line services transferred to Wales & Borders.

In July 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the TransPennine franchise to FirstGroup/Keolis with services operated by First North Western transferring to First TransPennine Express on 1 February 2004.[29]

In July 2004, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Northern Rail franchise to Serco-NedRailways with the remaining services operated by First North Western transferring to Northern Rail on 12 December 2004.[30]

References

1. Companies House extract company no 3007946 North Western Trains Company Limited
2. "Summary of Events: 1986 to 2002". Museum of Transport Greater Manchester. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
3. "Network Northwest". Rail. EMAP (93): 39. 6 April 1989. ISSN 0953-4563.
4. "Great Western set to win North West franchise" Rail issue 298 12 February 1997 page 7
5. "Great Western Holdings nets North West Regional Railways" The Railway Magazine issue 1152 April 1997 page 7
6. "Now it's North Western Trains" The Railway Magazine issue 1153 May 1997 page 12
7. "North Western Trains launches new look" Rail issue 317 5 November 1997 page 7
8. "North Western Trains launches gold trains" Rail Express issue 19 1 December 1997 page 7
9. Rail bosses cash in on privatised gravy train The Independent 7 March 1998
10. FirstGroup Annual Report 31 March 1999 Archived 13 February 2009 at the UK Web Archive First Group plc
11. "GWT to be renamed First Great Western" The Railway Magazine issue 1172 December 1998 page 4
12. "It's First North Western" Rail issue 345 2 December 1998 page 14
13. Timetables First North Western 29 November 1999
14. "New Blackpool-London services to start this May" Rail issue 322 14 January 1998 page 10
15. "Rochdale NWT London service" Rail issue 323 28 January 1998 page 16
16. "North Western Trains announces London services" The Railway Magazine issue 1163 March 1998 page 73
17. "FNW cuts Euston-Manchester service" Rail issue 355 21 April 1999 page 13
18. "First North Western to axe Manchester-London service" The Railway Magazine issue 1178 June 1999 page 9
19. "Rochdale-London to be axed" The Railway Magazine issue 1186 February 2000 page 6
20. First North Western Announces Minimal Service Changes First North Western May 2003
21. "NWT livery for Class 322 Stansted units" Rail issue 329 22 April 1998 page 12
22. "FirstGroup signs for its 110 new GEC DMUs" Rail issue 332 3 June 1998 page 9
23. "First North Western drops plans for 125mph DMUs" The Railway Magazine issue 1176 April 1999 page 9
24. First North Western sulzerpower.com
25. "Loco fade-out at Blackpool" The Railway Magazine issue 1246 February 2005 page 11
26. "TransPennine TOC to be created by SSRA puts five franchises up for sale early" The Railway Magazine issue 1189 May 2000 page 37
27. The Trans-Pennine Express rail franchise Archived 20 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine Yorkshire & The Humber Transport Activist's Roundtable Briefing Note October 2001
28. The Wales and Borders Franchise House of Commons Select Committee on Welsh Affairs Third Report 17 March 2004
29. SRA Announce Preferred Bidder for TransPennine Express Franchise Archived 15 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Strategic Rail Authority Press Release 28 July 2003
30. Serco joint venture selected as preferred bidder for Northern Rail train operating franchise Archived 27 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Serco Group 1 July 2004

External links

Media related to First North Western at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Regional Railways (Network NorthWest) As part of British Rail	Operator of the North West Regional Railways franchise 1997–2004	Succeeded by Wales and Borders Wales & Borders franchise (North Wales Coast services)
		Succeeded by First TransPennine Express TransPennine Express franchise
		Succeeded by Northern Rail Northern Rail franchise