Network NorthWest was a
brand name of British Rail which was applied for a short period to the provincial railway network in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
. It was launched in 1989 during
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
's
sectorisation programme which created distinct brand identities for regional sub-divisions.
The Network NorthWest name mirrored the larger
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the netwo ...
brand which had been rolled out on the rail network around
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and the
South East of England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, ...
since 1982. Network NorthWest promoted suburban and regional railway services centred on
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and was jointly funded by
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester.
SELNEC PTE
Until 1969, the conurbati ...
and
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control.
Prior to the 2009 La ...
.
Some Network NorthWest services overlapped with those of neighbouring
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
, another British Rail regional network which was centred on
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
History
![Levenshulme railway station (7)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Levenshulme_railway_station_%287%29.JPG)
The public launch of the brand took place on 4 April 1989 at an event hosted by television presenter
Stuart Hall at the
Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
Invited guests travelled on a special train formed of a
Class 150 from the museum to , then back from to . Souvenir tickets were issued for the journey.
The
Provincial sector of British Rail, which was responsible for the new network, then ran a series of roadshows in town centres across northwest England in June and July 1989 to increase public awareness of the brand.
With effect from 15 May 1989, when the summer 1989 timetable was introduced, all rail services operated by the
Provincial sector of British Rail across a large area of northwest England were marketed and operated under the Network NorthWest name. The area was bounded by , , , , (via ), , , , , , , , , , and .
The – and – branches were also included, but the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
between and was excluded because it was run by the
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
sector.
Also introduced at this time were two one-day
Rail Rover tickets allowing unlimited off-peak travel in either the full Network NorthWest area (at £7.60, with reductions for children and
Railcard holders) or a smaller zone described as the "central area" (£3.80).
Ticket issuing facilities at stations were also overhauled during the Network NorthWest era: some stations were destaffed or saw reductions in ticket office opening hours, the new
APTIS
APTIS was the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on the British Rail/National Rail network until 2007. It was originally called "Advanced Passenger Ticket Issuing System" as it was being developed at the time of the Advanced P ...
and
SPORTIS systems were installed at many stations, and three types of
self-service ticket issuing system were trialled at various locations.
From 15 May 1990, the Merseyrail area was added to Network NorthWest, and additional Rover tickets were introduced to cover various parts of the network. A Rover covering the whole enlarged area cost £10.90.
Network NorthWest was a short-lived venture and few examples remain of the Network NorthWest brand today. Network NorthWest was eventually absorbed into the
Regional Railways
Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''.
Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...
operation prior to the
privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...
and the brand disappeared from use. After privatisation, railway services in the Network NorthWest zone were taken over by
North Western Trains and subsequently operated by
Northern Rail
Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...
,
Arriva Rail North
Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operato ...
and
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
, while two local lines were taken into the
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kin ...
light rail system.
Branding and rolling stock
Network NorthWest branding at in 2012
Network NorthWest featured a red and grey NW logo which was applied to publicity, timetables, station signage and some rolling stock across the region. The limited NorthWest provincial train livery was a blue upper body, light grey lower body and a red and grey bodyside stripe with an "NW" Logo.
The livery was applied to a number of
Class 150 ''Sprinters'' serving routes in and out of Manchester,
and some
Class 142 ''Pacers'' in light blue British Rail Provincial livery had the "NW" emblem applied alongside the British Rail double arrow logo.
See also
*
Overground Network
Overground Network (abbreviated on or ON) was a branding initiative launched in 2003 by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and Transport for London (TfL), the public transport authority in London, England. Its aim was to encourage use of Nati ...
– a pilot brand used for London rail 2003–2006
Notes
External links
Example of Network NorthWest livery on rolling stock:
Class 150 Sprinter at Manchester VictoriaClass 150 Sprinter at Chester
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Network NorthWest
British Rail brands
History of rail transport in Great Britain
British Rail passenger services
Rail transport in Greater Manchester
Rail transport in Lancashire
Transport in North West England
History of transport in Greater Manchester