Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Managing Director of Arriva Rail Northern, David Brown, has stated that this will be possible due to the introduction of 101 new trains, which will commence during the summer of this year. The latest re-liverying of a unit is confined to 158:782, which was formerly in ScotRail colours. Meanwhile the new 195:xxx units are still on driver training and mileage accumulation runs, although they are not likely to appear on the East Lancs Line services for some considerable time. It had been reported that Arriva Rail Northern had hit financial difficulties. An ‘insider’ had told the media that they are running out of money and were facing insolvency. When approached by the BBC’s reporter a spokesperson neither denied or confirmed this story, which has possibly been fuelled by the news that the German-based parent company, is known to be looking to divest its bus operations in this country. One cannot be so shocked if this turned out to be the case, as from the beginning this franchise has been dogged by a series of events which must have put a question mark over its viability. First there was the insistence that the new trains would only be single manned, without guards or ticket conductors. This of course had sparked a series of strikes which had gone on for almost eighteen months. Then there was the timetable fiasco of May, 2018 causing a whole raft of cancellations, missed stops and late running. The new trains were not available for service as promised (and still aren’t), but the lateness of the electrification of the Manchester  Blackpool North via Bolton and Preston service could not be attributed to them. However, it certainly did not help. Both the Mayors of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, several MPs and other bodies have been calling for months for franchise to be taken back into public hands, and it was even stated by some that the Government were bank-rolling Arriva to stick it out against the industrial action. It would seem a catastrophe if the franchise was to fail or be stripped away at this late stage, when at long last there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel (pun intended). July Monday, July 1 st , saw the first introduction of Arriva Rail North’s new DMUs, as the first 195:xxx units came into service on a handful of services, none of which would immediately serve the East Lancs Line. However, only 9 of the expected 100 to be delivered would be in operation, with delays in production from CAF being quoted as the reason why. It was expected that the Class 142 ‘Pacers’ which commenced withdrawal beginning in August. But there were to be other implications, as it had been revealed that there may not be sufficient of the new units available by the end of the year to see all of the 142:xxx units withdrawn from service. Although it had been stated that there would have to be a special dispensation granted, as of the 1 st of January, they would no longer comply with the legislation on disability access. Despite all the trumpeting about the new 195:xxx units, the seating capacities in them would actually go down in all cases with the exception of the 142:xxx Pacers, where there is a modest increase of just 2. These are set out in the table below. Class Seats 195:0xx (2 Car) 195:1xx (3 car) Difference 142 (2 car) 121 123 - Plus 2 150 (2 car) 148 123 - Minus 25 150 (3 car) 222 - 203 Minus 19 156 (2 car) 146 123 - Minus 23 158 (2 car) 146 123 - Minus 23 158 (3 car) 210 - 203 Minus 7 Although they are being introduced on what are judged to be the more important routes radiating out of Manchester Airport to Barrow, Liverpool Lime Street and Windermere, as well as between Doncaster and Leeds, it is predicted by Richard Allan, Deputy Managing Director of Arriva Rail North,

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