Northern Rail divisional shake up

NORTHERN RAIL has announced a shakeup of its divisions, with new business regions based in Leeds, Manchester, Preston and Newcastle.

Regional directors will lead the delivery of changes announced on Arriva’s launch of the new Northern franchise on 1 April. The new Northern regions will be active by 1 July.

They will help deliver a £1bn investment which will see 281 new carriages and a 37% increase in peak time capacity, according to the business.

Alex Hynes, managing director commented: “Regions are at the heart of our new franchise. They will enable the transformation of Northern, bringing our people and service delivery closer to the communities and customers we serve.”

“From July a new team of regional directors will be based in four regional centres. They will utilise our extensive knowledge of local customer needs and transport opportunities to build railway services that meet the needs of their region.”

East will be Northern’s largest new region, based in Leeds, incorporating an area that is bordered by Hull, Nottingham, Todmorden and Armathwaite. This region will be headed up by Paul Barnfield.

Mr Barnfield commented: “The transformation we will deliver at Northern during this franchise is a once in a generation opportunity. I can’t wait to bring the benefits of that change to our customers in our east region.”