NSE to Silverlink “Gap”

[zackhally]

Just going down my usual rabbit hole of Wikipedia and other sites learning and exploring the history of a few routes, tonight’s subject being North London.

I have noticed that everything seems to state NSE ceased in 1994, with Silverlink beginning in 1997. Who/what operated the “North London Railways” patch between that time? Was it still British Rail? If so what ‘brand’ did it use, or was it just NSE right up til ‘07?

Anything helps, ta!

 

[LowLevel]

It was a British Rail "shadow TOC" known as a Train Operating Unit that I think was called North London Railways (@ChiefPlanner is probably the man for anything to do with this area!)

Most of the TOUs kept on using their BR identities regardless, though some had different logos.

 

[JB_B]

It was a British Rail "shadow TOC" known as a Train Operating Unit that I think was called North London Railways (@ChiefPlanner is probably the man for anything to do with this area!)

Most of the TOUs kept on using their BR identities regardless, though some had different logos.

NLR were part of my backup commute in the early mid-90s - it definitely had a separate (post-NSE and pre-Siliverlink) branding - purple and green come to mind.

 

[pdeaves]

British Rail had an internal operating unit. This was vested as and started trading as a separate (BR-owned) company North London Railways Ltd from 12 November 1995. It was sold off with effect from 2 March 1997 and the company's legal name changed to Silverlink Train Services Ltd from 26 September 1997.

 

[Helvellyn]

Network SouthEast was divided up into eleven shadow franchises from 1st April, Train Operating Units (TOUs) that became Train Operating Companies (TOCs) once franchised out.

https://www.networksoutheast.net/lifeafternse.html

 

[Joe Paxton]

On the Railway Codes website there is a BR privatisation page which lists the sale of former BR businesses - look at 1996 and early 1997 to see the sale of the TOUs (the 'shadow TOCs').

There's also what's intended to be a comprehensive listing UK railway franchises and open access operators, which details the history of the various passenger franchises and their owners.

The introductory paragraph of this 1997 House of Commons Library Research Paper on "The Railway Passenger Companies" (PDF) provides a good summary of how the passenger side of BR was prepared for privatisation from April 1994 - I'll quote it below:

The passenger railway network was restructured after April 1994 so that domestic passenger train services could be offered to the private sector to run on a franchised basis. British Rail reorganised its passenger services into 25 different train operating units (TOUs). These TOUs were gradually incorporated as subsidiaries of British Rail and run as separate "shadow" businesses within British Rail. The objective was to provide financial and operational information and experience of how the business would operate under the new arrangements and to give potential franchisees financial and management information to assist them in tendering for the franchises. Each of the 25 train operating companies (TOCs) was then offered for sale as a separate franchise. The successful bidder acquired the TOC outright for a fixed number of years. The first franchises, South West Trains and Great Western were awarded on 19 and 20 December 1995 and the first privatised services started operating on Sunday 4 February 1996. The last franchise to be agreed was ScotRail which started operating in private hands on 1 April 1997.

The resulting complicated fragmentation is something that is now being slowly untangled in the lead up to the creation of GBR.

 

[frankmoh]

NLR were part of my backup commute in the early mid-90s - it definitely had a separate (post-NSE and pre-Siliverlink) branding - purple and green come to mind.

The regular Silverlink livery was purple and green though? Unless these shadow TOCs had interim liveries too? I know LTS (pre-c2c) did, with a green stripe replacing the red on NSE.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Just going down my usual rabbit hole of Wikipedia and other sites learning and exploring the history of a few routes, tonight’s subject being North London.

I have noticed that everything seems to state NSE ceased in 1994, with Silverlink beginning in 1997. Who/what operated the “North London Railways” patch between that time? Was it still British Rail? If so what ‘brand’ did it use, or was it just NSE right up til ‘07?

Anything helps, ta!

The name "Silverlink" only appeared after privatisation , certainly when I joined in early 1996 , it was North London Railways.

Interestingly , only the 313's in this period had classified overhauls (the 321's were still quite new !) , and the ones did came back from Ilford with broad NSE livery , but not detail branded as such. This was changed to the purple etc livery with 313034 (as it was then !)

Before the roll out of Silverlink , one of the 321's had a quick paint job and appeared in all over white , with "make the link" as a teaser to the new livery / branding launch. Known to the staff as "Casper" , after the friendly ghost !.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Incredible to think, given its iconic brand, enduring legacy and generally positive impact on the quality of service in the region, Network SouthEast actually operated for less than eight years!

 

[frankmoh]

Incredible to think, given its iconic brand, enduring legacy and generally positive impact on the quality of service in the region, Network SouthEast actually operated for less than eight years!

My local station still has red (well nowadays it's more like pink) showing through on various poles and fences. And then of course there are places like Marylebone and Essex Road.

Sticking with the topic of Silverlink, some of the only places in London where I can't see any NSE influence now are London Overground stations.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

My local station still has red (well nowadays it's more like pink) showing through on various poles and fences. And then of course there are places like Marylebone and Essex Road.

Sticking with the topic of Silverlink, some of the only places in London where I can't see any NSE influence now are London Overground stations.

The local stations on the Southern network have plenty of peeling paint on lampposts and such revealing NSE red underneath. I loved the Silverlink brand as a child, but getting rid of NSE so quickly was such a waste.

 

[Leyland Bus]

Slightly off topic but wasn't there a Network SouthCentral for a time before that franchise was "let'?

 

[Joe Paxton]

Slightly off topic but wasn't there a Network SouthCentral for a time before that franchise was "let'?

Yes there was, until Connex took it on as a franchise. Some 'NSC' branding is shown on this website.

Notable I think because it sort of re-used the NSE branding, making use of the red/blue/grey NSE lozenge and also the "Network..." prefix to the name.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Towards the end of BR ownership the West Coast route was branded Northampton Line and the logo was the words 'Grand Union' above a drawing of two shaking hands in an outline with canal-type floristry in the corners.
Someone was selling these vinyls mounted on NSE blue backing sheet at a recent Quorn swap meet and I sadly bought one.

 

[Leyland Bus]

Yes there was, until Connex took it on as a franchise. Some 'NSC' branding is shown on this website.

Notable I think because it sort of re-used the NSE branding, making use of the red/blue/grey NSE lozenge and also the "Network..." prefix to the name.

Ahh yes, Connex how could I forget

They even went to the lengths of producing literature with on, that I didn't know! Thanks!

 

[JB_B]

The regular Silverlink livery was purple and green though? Unless these shadow TOCs had interim liveries too? I know LTS (pre-c2c) did, with a green stripe replacing the red on NSE.

Quite right - probably just faulty memory.