Northern Trains, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail North had its franchise terminated at the end of February 2020.
A Northern Class 331 in November 2023 at Stoke-on-Trent
Image: 150001 at Manchester Victoria
Image: Northern Class 150 Nottingham
Image: Hull Arriva 155343 arrived from Scarborough
Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains, Northern was the largest train franchise in the United Kingdom in terms of the size of the network and the number of weekly services run. Its trains called at 528 stations, about a quarter of all stations in the country; of these stations 476 were operated by Northern. On 1 March 2020, Arriva Rail North Limited ceased to operate and all operations were handed to HM Government's Operator of Last Resort.
An Arriva Rail North Class 195 arriving at Lancaster
The first Class 195 and Class 331 units were introduced in July 2019
Image: Preston Arriva 142037+156488 Colne service
Image: 156489 in NR white
