Northern Rail

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Northern Rail

(15/11/2015 13:09)Dentonian Wrote:  Thanks. Actually, I must admit I don't know who is responsible for what with rail franchising. Being very much a bus man, I assume that the TOC is responsible for everything except the basic timetable and fares. But specifically, can someone advise who is responsible for:

1. Detailed timetables/running times.

2. Capacity allocation ie. which (peak) trains get 4-cars and which get 2.

3. Revenue protection ie. where/when and how many staff at the platform exit

Also, are the works of fiction that pass for punctuality performance percentages placed at stations every 4 weeks, independantly assessed - and are they meant to cover all journeys/stations or just peak hour departures from the initial station?

No problem. I'll answer your questions to the best of my knowledge

1) The National Timetable is devised by Network Rail

2) Allocation of units to services is down to the operator. Any units that are spare are allocated to extra services or service strengthening as and where needed. As a result of the first batch (more are expected in the future) of Class 319s transferring to Northern there were supposed to be six Class 156s freed up to strengthen other services. However - as five of the First TPE Class 170s have gone to Chiltern those spare 156s have had to go on loan to TPE to replace the 170s. To free up capacity for other routes Northern have introduced loco hauled services on the Cumbrian Coast and I believe these will be continued by the new franchisee for the foreseeable future

3) Generally operators carry out their own revenue protection - although I have heard of operators using another company's RPIs at stations (i.e. if the station in question is managed by another company) in the past. This is done either on the train when the conductor does ticket checks or by RPIs at the platform exits. I've noticed that RPIs are generally at major termini (Lime Street, Piccadilly etc) rather than suburban stations such as Mossley Hill or Huyton

I'm not sure on your last point - but I hope the above is useful