The failure of Northern Connect

[MichaelTrains]

Good video below about the shambolic failure of the Northern Connect project.

My local station Bradford Interchange missing out on direct services to Liverpool, Manchester Airport, Sheffield and Nottingham.

Bradford Interchange being harmed because the promised Northern Connect network of improved longer-distance rail services largely failed to materialise as planned under the 2016 Northern franchise, leaving the station and city with weaker connectivity, reliability problems, and unfulfilled upgrades.

Absolutely disgraceful.

 

[Russel]

I'd forgotten all about that project!

 

[Djgr]

At some poin, the Forum definitely needs to vote for the top ten biggest failures of the privatisation era.

Worringly this probably wouldn't reach it.

PS Note the Northern trains that have a reservation system in line with Connect but has never been used (although we, through our taxes and fares, are probably paying for it)

 

[Iskra]

This seems a bit dramatic, many of the Northern Connect services have come to fruition, they just aren’t called Northern Connect; ie fast trains on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, improvements on the Hartlepool Line and the Yorkshire Flyer. Plus, the pre-existing faster Northern Services.

 

[ainsworth74]

It was an excellent idea (and remains one) but of course strangled in the cradle by a mixture of infrastructure (Middlesbrough - Carlisle was never going to work via the ECML without grade separation at Ferryhill and even then...) and timetable failures (the May 2018 nervous breakdown though of course in the North West a lot of that was also infrastructure related!). And then there was the catastrophic industrial relations battles throughout 2018 into early 2019 and the perennial Sunday staffing issues in the North West which further damaged the whole operation. Honestly by 2019 Northern was in such a dire state it's a miracle that it limped through to January 2020 before the DfT finally announced they'd take it back in house.

Its an absolute crushing shame as there was some seriously good ideas in that 2016 franchise which would have been transformative (and, in fairness, there have been transformations even within that failure such as the death of Pacers).

Must admit it's been pleasing to see that the arrival of the Middlesbrough - Carlisle in revised format (it's semi-fast via Sunderland on the Durham Coast line now, all stops beyond Newcastle) since the December 2025 timetable and Alex Haynes recently posted on Twitter that it's been successful and has helped increase Middlesbrough - Carlisle journeys by 37%, Middlesbrough - MetroCentre by 38%, Hartlepool - Sunderland by 45% and Middlesbrough - Newcastle by 10%. More money flowing in revenue, more people using the railway rather than cars, good good stuff. I think the Yorkshire Flyer between Leeds and Sheffield has also been successful in a similar way (though vulnerable to cancellation).

Now imagine if that had happened across the network as had been planned with Northern Connect...

This seems a bit dramatic, many of the Northern Connect services have come to fruition, they just aren’t called Northern Connect; ie fast trains on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, improvements on the Hartlepool Line and the Yorkshire Flyer. Plus, the pre-existing faster Northern Services.

Yes I think people often over egg the "NORTHERN IS A FAILURE AND EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE" pudding. Though compared to what was promised, what has been delivered doesn't really match those promises. Always have an internal chuckle when I ride on a 158 with reservations screens that have never once been used for example...

 

[Spartacus]

Going off THIS thread the vast majority HAVE actually happened in some form, they just dropped the 'Northern Connect' idea, as it was never really great for such diverse services. It's been delivered in penny packets, as it always was likely to, in varying places around the country, so it's easier to miss as a whole compared to a timetable recast, but it has happened where it's practical.

And that's what matters for Bradford, practicality; if Bradford wants more services Bradford needs more capacity, and that's difficult and takes longer. will the TPRU release some capacity on the Calder Valley? Maybe there'll be opportunity for Bradford - West Pennine services via Huddersfield using bi-modes? I don't know.

 

[MichaelTrains]

This seems a bit dramatic, many of the Northern Connect services have come to fruition, they just aren’t called Northern Connect; ie fast trains on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, improvements on the Hartlepool Line and the Yorkshire Flyer. Plus, the pre-existing faster Northern Services.

How many of those benefit Bradford Interchange etc?

One out of four; the Leeds to Chester.

Where are the services to Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Manchester Airport?

 

[Iskra]

Yes I think people often over egg the "NORTHERN IS A FAILURE AND EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE" pudding. Though compared to what was promised, what has been delivered doesn't really match those promises. Always have an internal chuckle when I ride on a 158 with reservations screens that have never once been used for example...

You make many fair and good points, but those promises were made by a completely different set of people to those running Northern now. It’s a bit like blaming LNER for not doing something GNER promised…

The franchise system definitely resulted in prospective franchisees over-promising, and then being able to walk away entirely unaccountable and leaving someone else to pick up the pieces…

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Aug 2026 ==

How many of those benefit Bradford Interchange etc?

One out of four; the Leeds to Chester.

Where are the services to Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Manchester Airport?

The universe and Northern, do not revolve solely around Bradford. Direct trains to everywhere for Bradford, is not a sensible use of resources or capacity.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The universe and Northern, do not revolve solely around Bradford. Direct trains to everywhere for Bradford, is not a sensible use of resources or capacity.

One of Northern's biggest problems, indeed, is that the nature of its operation is essentially "direct trains from everywhere to everywhere roughly once an hour". It creates an extremely complex and poorly resilient operation.

 

[ainsworth74]

You make many fair and good points, but those promises were made by a completely different set of people to those running Northern now. It’s a bit like blaming LNER for not doing something GNER promised…

Well yes but in fairness Northern Connect was supposed to arrive in December 2019 during the currency of the Arriva flavour of Northern so I think it's fair to be critical of that at the very least!

The franchise system definitely resulted in prospective franchisees over-promising, and then being able to walk away entirely unaccountable and leaving someone else to pick up the pieces…

Indeed. I still reckon the alternative universe where we got First West Coast in 2012* with it's utterly heroic revenue assumptions (I'm sure Roger Ford did an excellent chart that suggested they'd need to be bringing in something absurd like a £1bn a year by, er, well now as it was supposed to run through to 2026!) would have been another VTEC scale failure.

*In some respects I wonder if that disaster actually marked the beginning of the end of franchising. It never quite felt the same after that one and was clearly on its last legs even before Covid and the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Manchester Airport one died with the Castlefield capacity issues.
Not sure why the Liverpool never happened, especially as the second Chat Moss stopper also never appeared.
The Chester is well used though, and gives 2tph Chester-Manchester via Warrington and a faster service at that (omits 3 stops that TfW makes).

 

[Iskra]

Well yes but in fairness Northern Connect was supposed to arrive in December 2019 during the currency of the Arriva flavour of Northern so I think it's fair to be critical of that at the very least!

True, but I think Covid probably had a massive impact too.

 

[ainsworth74]

True, but I think Covid probably had a massive impact too.

For sure, cost Northern vast amounts of time and money as it basically fixed everything in aspic for a few years and then had to rebuild in a very different word. But not until 2020 and after though by which point Northern Connect was already dead (Arriva were stripped of it on 1 March 2020, easy to forget seeing as what happened a couple of weeks later).

 

[tbtc]

This seems a bit dramatic, many of the Northern Connect services have come to fruition, they just aren’t called Northern Connect; ie fast trains on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, improvements on the Hartlepool Line and the Yorkshire Flyer. Plus, the pre-existing faster Northern Services.

Agreed (other than I'd upgrade it to incredibly dramatic!)

Most of these services exist in one form or another and are run with 195s, the only difference is that they don't say "Connect" on their branding

I have many reasons to be critical of the state run Northern (mainly due to the cuts to long established frequencies in South Yorkshire, the half hourly Sheffield - Doncaster stoppers became hourly, the hourly Doncaster - Scunthorpe service was cut from hourly to every two or three hours, plus the hourly Gainsborough stopper that Arriva introduced was removed under state operation meaning slower journeys for longer distance passengers)

Middlesbrough got it's second train an hour to Newcastle (and IMO that's much better via Sunderland than cramming a short DMU through Durham)

Hopefully at some stage the Leeds - Sheffield "flyer" will be extended to Nottingham (replacing the two coach nonsense via Barnsley, south of Sheffield)

Other than that, it's just Bradford, which was significantly over-promised services under the Arriva franchise. There's no way that these would be running nowadays anyway, as some sanity has reached the muddle of routes around Manchester, and they'd presumably have just been upgrades/replacements for the existing Calder Valley services, so the fact that so many 195s run through Bradford means they'd got pretty much everything promised

IMHO we shouldn't be throwing loads of resources at the people wanting to save money on Leeds- Manchester tickets by sitting on DMUs via Calder Valley - good luck to them if they want to put up with the journey time/discomfort to save a few quid but they aren't they biggest priority

Beyond that, we've just got a guy moaning that the Manchester Airport to Barrow service runs via Bolton instead of Wigan. If that's a catastrophic failure then I can cope, thanks

One of Northern's biggest problems, indeed, is that the nature of its operation is essentially "direct trains from everywhere to everywhere roughly once an hour". It creates an extremely complex and poorly resilient operation.

Agreed

Sadly there are some people who are obsessed with links like Southport to Castlefield which mean we sacrifice reliability and simplicity to try to provide such hourly direct services

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed (other than I'd upgrade it to incredibly dramatic!)

Most of these services exist in one form or another and are run with 195s, the only difference is that they don't say "Connect" on their branding

Though 195s are being used much more widely than those services, with it having been discovered that their acceleration and layout is very suitable for local stopping services like Rose Hill Marple.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

The Manchester Airport one died with the Castlefield capacity issues.
Not sure why the Liverpool never happened, especially as the second Chat Moss stopper also never appeared.
The Chester is well used though, and gives 2tph Chester-Manchester via Warrington and a faster service at that (omits 3 stops that TfW makes).

The Manchester Airport link could have been saved if TPE hadn't been allowed to pull rank and run Leeds - Huddersfield - Manchester Airport services via Victoria instead of via Guide Bridge with reversal at Piccadilly. The Ordsall chord has been wasted. Its paths should have been allocated to Calder Valley trains before TPE.

 

[Freemo]

I think the Yorkshire Flyer between Leeds and Sheffield has also been successful in a similar way (though vulnerable to cancellation).

The extra hourly service was hotly anticipated by me and when we finally got it seven years later it was great for the first four months or so, since the beginning of summer it's basically an occasional unadvertised express that happens to be nominally in the timetable.

 

[ainsworth74]

Middlesbrough got it's second train an hour to Newcastle (and IMO that's much better via Sunderland than cramming a short DMU through Durham)

Indeed, would be nice if it was a bit faster though end to end (which was to be the main advantage of going via Durham) for Middlesbrough - Newcastle. But no hope of that without spending money raising line speeds along the Coast. The main thing though is that it exists and is doing a good job of moving people and providing vital additional capacity. I remember travelling before it existed and during it's initial introduction one a once every two hours basis and the Durham Coast would be regularly overcrowded on Saturdays. I've been on trains that were full and standing on departure from Hartlepool heading towards Newcastle. and crush loaded leaving people behind from Horden. I've not experienced that since the timetable change (though I'm sure it still happens sometimes!).

The extra hourly service was hotly anticipated by me and when we finally got it seven years later it was great for the first four months or so, since the beginning of summer it's basically an occasional unadvertised express that happens to be nominally in the timetable.

Disappointing. I'd picked up that it was vulnerable to cancellation but that's very disappointing if it's frequent as that. Hopefully in time it will stabilise. The referred to above additional semi-fast Middlesbrough - Newcastle was very vulnerable to cancellation when it was first introduced as one train per two hours (if Northern needed a unit or a driver/guard it was first thing to go in the bin). Now it's pretty consistent. Hopefully the Yorkshire Flyer will see the same before too long.

Then again we've always, for the most part, been a bit insulated from the wider travails of the Northern franchise. I remember when the North West was in complete meltdown in May 2018 we were bumbling along up here completely as normal

 

[YorkshireBear]

Indeed, would be nice if it was a bit faster though end to end (which was to be the main advantage of going via Durham) for Middlesbrough - Newcastle. But no hope of that without spending money raising line speeds along the Coast. The main thing though is that it exists and is doing a good job of moving people and providing vital additional capacity. I remember travelling before it existed and during it's initial introduction one a once every two hours basis and the Durham Coast would be regularly overcrowded on Saturdays. I've been on trains that were full and standing on departure from Hartlepool heading towards Newcastle. and crush loaded leaving people behind from Horden. I've not experienced that since the timetable change (though I'm sure it still happens sometimes!).

Disappointing. I'd picked up that it was vulnerable to cancellation but that's very disappointing if it's frequent as that. Hopefully in time it will stabilise. The referred to above additional semi-fast Middlesbrough - Newcastle was very vulnerable to cancellation when it was first introduced as one train per two hours (if Northern needed a unit or a driver/guard it was first thing to go in the bin). Now it's pretty consistent. Hopefully the Yorkshire Flyer will see the same before too long.

Then again we've always, for the most part, been a bit insulated from the wider travails of the Northern franchise. I remember when the North West was in complete meltdown in May 2018 we were bumbling along up here completely as normal

It's run by 158s and is the first to go when all the units start dropping in hot weather. Now the massive heatwave has ended it's gone back to being fairly reliable.

 

[Iskra]

It's run by 158s and is the first to go when all the units start dropping in hot weather. Now the massive heatwave has ended it's gone back to being fairly reliable.

It's the first to go, because it is a strategically sensible decision. If the Flyer is cancelled, all stations retain their hourly service and passengers have reasonable alternative services. It also minimises delay repay payouts and doesn't require alternative road transport. If you cancel any of the other Sheffield-Leeds services, it will involve at least one station receiving no train for an extended period, incurs delay repay and then to rub salt into the wounds the passengers may even get to watch the Flyer sail through their station while they stand and endure a long wait, which is incredibly frustrating.

Nobody wants to cancel the Flyer, but it is certainly the least worst option: everybody keeps moving at a sensible frequency and it minimises costs to the taxpayer.

 

[YorkshireBear]

It's the first to go, because it is a strategically sensible decision. If the Flyer is cancelled, all stations retain their hourly service and passengers have reasonable alternative services. It also minimises delay repay payouts and doesn't require alternative road transport. If you cancel any of the other Sheffield-Leeds services, it will involve at least one station receiving no train for an extended period, incurs delay repay and then to rub salt into the wounds the passengers may even get to watch the Flyer sail through their station while they stand and endure a long wait, which is incredibly frustrating.

Nobody wants to cancel the Flyer, but it is certainly the least worst option: everybody keeps moving at a sensible frequency and it minimises costs to the taxpayer.

100% agreed.

 

[syorksdeano]

The other question is how long is Bradford Interchange going to be open.

In 2024 they stated that it would need to be replaced. In 2025 they were still looking for a suitable place. Surely if the bus station is going the train station will be as well.

On another note I can see the Yorkshire Flyer getting extended to Bradford when the Hull train stops at Leeds. Can't see the Nottingham one getting extended to Bradford as my understanding it would have to cross more or less all the lines at Leeds.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

The Manchester Airport link could have been saved if TPE hadn't been allowed to pull rank and run Leeds - Huddersfield - Manchester Airport services via Victoria instead of via Guide Bridge with reversal at Piccadilly. The Ordsall chord has been wasted. Its paths should have been allocated to Calder Valley trains before TPE.

Routeing via Guide Bridge and reversing at Piccadilly involves crossing the whole layout there. Running via Ordsall completely eliminates that source of unreliability. Also the demand between Leeds/Huddersfield and Manchester Airport is well established, the potential demand from Bradford, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, etc is just that: potential but unproven. The Ordsall Chord is indeed being wasted: it should have been the last element in the Manchester Hub scheme to be built not the first. Without Picadilly 15/16 it cannot be exploited to any useful degree.

 

[Iskra]

The other question is how long is Bradford Interchange going to be open.

In 2024 they stated that it would need to be replaced. In 2025 they were still looking for a suitable place. Surely if the bus station is going the train station will be as well.

On another note I can see the Yorkshire Flyer getting extended to Bradford when the Hull train stops at Leeds. Can't see the Nottingham one getting extended to Bradford as my understanding it would have to cross more or less all the lines at Leeds.

Wouldn’t that require extra trains? Where are you finding those?

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Wouldn’t that require extra trains? Where are you finding those?

Isn't Transport for Wales having a clear out? Northern could always take on more class 150's and 158's and properly beef up the existing services with the spin of extra seats.

Someone mentioned Bradford to Manchester Airport services - there's no requirement as Bradford already has direct access to an international airport by the way of Yeadon Airstrip otherwise known as Leeds Bradford International Airport.

 

[M60lad]

Regarding the seating reservations part of Northern Connect which 158s were fitted with the system? I guess they've still got it fitted.

 

[psmith2023]

When northern finally get flyer running properly they could extend a couple of the peak times to Nottingham just stop at Sheffield chesterfield and alfreton would take 20 mins of the other express

 

[Iskra]

Isn't Transport for Wales having a clear out? Northern could always take on more class 150's and 158's and properly beef up the existing services with the spin of extra seats.

Someone mentioned Bradford to Manchester Airport services - there's no requirement as Bradford already has direct access to an international airport by the way of Yeadon Airstrip otherwise known as Leeds Bradford International Airport.

You’d think that GWR and EMR may also want additional units. It’s not a given that Northern will receive a significant windfall, and even if they do there may be other areas which have to be resourced first: ie the Huddersfield-York via Castleford service that is transferring from TP. Many more existing services may require strengthening first, before we start adding more capacity-wasting 2 carriage services onto our congested network.

 

[Snex]

Indeed, would be nice if it was a bit faster though end to end (which was to be the main advantage of going via Durham) for Middlesbrough - Newcastle. But no hope of that without spending money raising line speeds along the Coast. The main thing though is that it exists and is doing a good job of moving people and providing vital additional capacity. I remember travelling before it existed and during it's initial introduction one a once every two hours basis and the Durham Coast would be regularly overcrowded on Saturdays. I've been on trains that were full and standing on departure from Hartlepool heading towards Newcastle. and crush loaded leaving people behind from Horden. I've not experienced that since the timetable change (though I'm sure it still happens sometimes!).

See I don't think they should be either or it should be a 2 TPH all stopper along the coast and the fast train via Durham taking the Chester Le Street loads off TransPennine so it can actually be intercity rather than it being full of commuters at peak times.

Personally I'm not a fan of the 'fast' train along the coast as it leaves places like Seaham, Horden, Billingham etc with a poor hourly service and these aren't little outback stations in the middle of nowhere. These are towns with 20k+ people and should have more than an hourly 2 car Class 156.

Now we've got a sticking plaster solution and imo the worst of both worlds. A pretty slow service from end to end and a poor service for the intermediate stations.

Ignoring there's capacity issues on the ECML here.

 

[ainsworth74]

See I don't think they should be either or it should be a 2 TPH all stopper along the coast and the fast train via Durham taking the Chester Le Street loads off TransPennine so it can actually be intercity rather than it being full of commuters at peak times.

Personally I'm not a fan of the 'fast' train along the coast as it leaves places like Seaham, Horden, Billingham etc with a poor hourly service and these aren't little outback stations in the middle of nowhere. These are towns with 20k+ people and should have more than an hourly 2 car Class 156.

Now we've got a sticking plaster solution and imo the worst of both worlds. A pretty slow service from end to end and a poor service for the intermediate stations.

Ignoring there's capacity issues on the ECML here.

Well yes as you've identified there is insufficient capacity on the ECML without significant interventions to run that as nice as it would be. And whilst I agree that 2tph all-stops would be a logical service pattern for the Coast we sadly live in the real world and I reckon what we've got is the best we're likely to get without major investment which is unlikely to be forthcoming anytime soon. I mean ideally you'd probably have 2tph stopping service and a fast service in the mix as I don't see why Stockton, Hartlepool, and Sunderland shouldn't have fast services linking them with Middlesbrough/Thornaby and Newcastle. But as the saying goes if wishes were horses...

That being said I don't agree that it's an especially poor service. It's not that much faster sure but ten minutes is ten minutes. If we're going to start quibbling about trying to speed up journeys where we can because "it's only a few minutes" we might as well give up before we start. Perhaps an extra all stops might be more useful and have generated more traffic. But at the same time I reckon Northern probably crunched the numbers and concluded that this was the best use of the extra resource they had.