Northern

The Northern franchise was formed by the merger of the former Regional Railways North East franchise and part of the former North West Regional Railways franchise.

2004–2007

The franchise was initially awarded to Serco-Abellio.

2007–2016

2016–present

In 2016, the franchise was awarded to Arriva. On 29 January 2020, the Department for Transport announced the franchise was to be taken over by an operator of last resort, taking effect from 1 March 2020. The existing Northern name and branding was retained.

V • T • E  National Rail

Current franchises Chiltern | East Anglia (Stansted Express) | East Midlands | Essex Thameside | Greater Western | InterCity East Coast | InterCity West Coast | Merseyrail | New Cross Country | Northern | ScotRail | South Eastern | South Western (Island Line) | Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (Gatwick Express) | TransPennine | Wales and Borders | West Midlands Defunct franchises Central | Great Eastern | Great Northern | InterCity Anglia | InterCity CrossCountry | InterCity Great Western | InterCity Midland Main Line | North London | North West Regional Railways | Regional Railways North East | South Central | Thames | Thameslink | Thameslink Great Northern | Valley Lines | Wales and West | Wessex | West Anglia Great Northern Open access operators DB Cargo UK | Elizabeth Line (TfL Rail) | Eurostar | Hull Trains | Grand Central | Heathrow Connect | Heathrow Express | London Overground | Wrexham & Shropshire Sleeper services Caledonian Sleeper | Night Riviera Defunct British Rail sectors British Rail | InterCity | Network SouthEast | Rail Express Systems | Railfreight (Loadhaul | Mainline Freight | Transrail) | Regional Railways (Network NorthWest | ScotRail) Other services Alphaline | Motorail | Red Star Parcels | Sealink | Seaspeed Infrastructure Network Rail | Railtrack