Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 under the Northern brand but ceased again on 29 February 2020.

The British Rail Class 150 Sprinter is a class of diesel multiple-unit passenger trains, developed and built by British Rail Engineering Limited at York Carriage Works between 1984 and 1987 for use on regional services across Great Britain. The type is a second-generation design, built to more modern standards and based on BR's Mark 3 body design for longer-distance services. It was developed alongside the lower-cost Pacers, which were built using bus parts, for use on short-distance services. Two prototype units were built, followed by 135 production units in two batches. Subsequently, further members of the Sprinter family were developed and introduced to service, including the Class 155, Class 156, Class 158 and Class 159.