Northern Electrics (Northern Rail)
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| Overview | |
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| Franchise(s) | Northern (1 April 2016–present) |
| Fleet size | 22 |
| Stations called at |
(Main) Liverpool Lime Street Manchester Airport Manchester Victoria Wigan North Western Warrington Bank Quay Preston Blackpool North (In 2018) |
| National Rail abbreviation | NT |
| Parent company | Northern |
| Website | www.northernrailway.co.uk |
Northern Electrics is a brand of electric commuter rail services introduced in 2015, operated by Northern. The services operate on the Liverpool to Manchester (via Chat Moss) and Liverpool to Wigan lines.
As a result of complete electrification of these lines by state track operator Network Rail, they became capable of taking more trains at a higher speed, with raised punctuality, reliability and with considerably less pollution than diesel. The first complete day of Northern Electrics services was 22 May 2015.
State rail infrastructure owner Network Rail began electrification of the lines between Manchester and Liverpool in 2013 as part of its Northern Hub upgrade programme. The work was completed in February 2015.
The first electric services between Liverpool and Manchester commenced on 5 March 2015—the first service operated by Northern Electrics being the Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport route.
As part of Northern Rail's plans for operation of the newly electrified Liverpool to Manchester lines, an initial 20 Class 319/3 units were transferred from Thameslink following a repaint and internal refresh. 12 units launched the services early in 2015, with the remaining 8 units due to enter traffic for Northern Electrics in September the same year.
The Class 319s have largely replaced Class 142 Pacer, Class 150 Sprinter and Class 156 Super Sprinter diesel multiple unit stock that were once the mainstay of services between Liverpool and Manchester.
The Northern Electrics livery is different to the current standard Northern livery - featuring "Northern Electrics" logos and a different design which has a greater emphasis on purple.
As of December 2015[update], the routes operated by Northern Electrics are:
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