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'Silverlink Train Services Ltd' is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, with routes in North London and from London to Northampton, previously to Birmingham via Coventry prior to 2005. It is owned by National Express Group plc. The name originates with the first of the LNER A4 steam locomotives (the class which holds the world speed record for steam traction) which was also called ''Silver Link''. Ironically, Silverlink trains operate on the old LMS route to the north, the LNER's greatest rival.
The company's business is divided in to two groups - County (operating services between London Euston and Northampton, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Bletchley and Bedford) and Metro (operating services between Stratford and Richmond, Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction, London Euston to Watford Junction via Queen's Park and Willesden Junction, and Gospel Oak and Barking).
History
The North London Railways franchise was awarded to National Express on 7th February 1997, formerly operated by North London Railways Ltd. after the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail was privatised on 1st April 1994.[1] The franchise was due to end on 15th October 2006, however on 11th August 2006, the DfT extended the franchise to finish on 11th November 2007[2].
Silverlink Metro
===North London Line===
| Richmond (change for District Line) | |
| Kew Gardens (change for District Line) | |
| Gunnersbury (change for District Line) | |
| South Acton | |
| Acton Central | |
| Willesden Junction (change for Bakerloo Line, West London Line and Watford DC Line) | |
| Kensal Rise | |
| Brondesbury Park | |
| Brondesbury | |
| West Hampstead (change for Jubilee Line and First Capital Connect) | |
| Finchley Road & Frognal | |
| Hampstead Heath | |
| Gospel Oak (change for Gospel Oak - Barking Line) | |
| Kentish Town West | |
| Camden Road | |
| Caledonian Road & Barnsbury | |
| Highbury & Islington (change for Victoria Line) | |
| Canonbury | |
| Dalston Kingsland | |
| Hackney Central | |
| Homerton | |
| Hackney Wick | |
| Stratford (change for Central Line, Jubilee Line, Docklands Light Railway and 'one') | |
| West Ham † | |
| Canning Town † | |
| Custom House † | |
| Silvertown † | |
| North Woolwich † |
† At the end of service on Saturday 9 December 2006 the line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed, as much of the route is duplicated by the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line, leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line.[3]
===West London Line===
| Willesden Junction (change for North London Line, Watford DC Line and Bakerloo Line) | |
| Shepherd's Bush (under construction; change for Central Line) | |
| Kensington (Olympia) (change for District Line and Southern) | |
| West Brompton (change for District Line and Southern) | |
| Imperial Wharf (under construction) | |
| Clapham Junction (change for South West Trains and Southern) |
===Watford DC Line===
| London Euston (change for Northern Line, Victoria Line and Virgin) | |
| South Hampstead | |
| Kilburn High Road | |
| Queen's Park † | |
| Kensal Green † | |
| Willesden Junction † (change for North London Line and West London Line) | |
| Harlesden † | |
| Stonebridge Park † ~ | |
| Wembley Central † (change for Southern during the peaks) | |
| North Wembley † | |
| South Kenton † ~ | |
| Kenton † ~ | |
| Harrow & Wealdstone † (change for Northampton Line and Southern) | |
| Headstone Lane | |
| Hatch End | |
| Carpenders Park | |
| Bushey | |
| Watford High Street | |
| Watford Junction (change for Northampton Line, St Albans Abbey Line, Virgin and Southern) |
† = also served by the Bakerloo Line.
~ = A recent report for Transport for London speculated that Stonebridge Park, South Kenton and Kenton should be served only by Bakerloo line trains, except at peak times.
===Gospel Oak to Barking Line===
Silverlink County
Northampton Line
Northampton Line services run on the slow lines of the West Coast Main Line.
| London Euston (change for Watford DC Line and Virgin) | |
| Harrow and Wealdstone (change for Watford DC Line and Southern) | |
| Bushey | |
| Watford Junction (change for Watford DC Line, St Albans Abbey Line, Virgin and Southern) | |
| Kings Langley | |
| Apsley | |
| Hemel Hempstead | |
| Berkhamsted | |
| Tring | |
| Cheddington | |
| Leighton Buzzard | |
| Bletchley (change for Marston Vale Line) | |
| Milton Keynes Central | |
| Wolverton | |
| Northampton (change for Central Trains) |
===St Albans Abbey Line===
| Watford Junction (change for Northampton Line, Virgin, Watford DC Line and Southern) | |
| Watford North | |
| Garston | |
| Bricket Wood | |
| How Wood | |
| Park Street | |
| St Albans Abbey |
===Marston Vale Line===
| Bletchley (change for Northampton Line) | |
| Fenny Stratford | |
| Bow Brickhill | |
| Woburn Sands | |
| Aspley Guise | |
| Ridgmont | |
| Lidlington | |
| Millbrook | |
| Stewartby | |
| Kempston Hardwick | |
| Bedford St Johns | |
| Bedford (change for First Capital Connect and Midland Mainline) |
Performance
Silverlink is categorised as a London and South East operator by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and is one of the best performing TOCs in this sector with a PPM (Public Performance Measure) of 90.8% for the last quarter of the financial year 2006/7 [4]. This figure is for the whole of the day, as opposed to just peak services for which their performance is lower. The figures are slightly down from last year, but remain above the sector level of 89.0%.
Rolling Stock
Metro services are operated by class 313 25kV AC/750 V DC electric multiple units on the electrified routes, with three class 508/3 750 V DC electric multiple units used exclusively on the Euston-Watford Junction service. Class 150 Sprinter diesel multiple units are used on the non-electrified Gospel Oak-Barking route. They replaced elderly class 117 and class 121 units in 2000.
County services to Northampton are operated by class 321/4 electrical multiple units introduced in 1989. They were joined by new class 350/1 Desiro units built by Siemens AG in summer 2005, which operate as a shared fleet with Central Trains.
The St Albans Abbey line was operated for many years by class 313 electric multiple units, but are now usually operated by class 321 units with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards.
The non-electrified County Marston Vale Line uses class 150 diesel units.
Current Fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 150/1 ''Sprinter'' |  | diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 8 | Silverlink Metro: Gospel Oak - Barking Line Silverlink County: Marston Vale Line | 1984 - 1987 |
| Class 313 |  | electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 21 | Silverlink Metro: North London Line West London Line Watford DC Line | 1976 - 1977 1998 - 1999 (Refurbished) |
| Class 321/4 |  | electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 48 | Silverlink County: Northampton Line St Albans Abbey Line | 1989 - 1990 |
| Class 350/1 ''Desiro'' |  | electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 301 | Silverlink County: Northampton Line | 2004 - 2005 |
| Class 508/3 |  | electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 3 | Silverlink Metro: Watford DC Line | 1979 - 1980 2003 (Refurbished) |
#Built for Central Trains and Silverlink regional express services and Central Trains CityLink services on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.
Past Fleet
| ' Class ' | ' Type ' | ' Built ' | ' Withdrawn ' | ' Routes Operated ' | ' Notes ' |
| Class 108 | diesel multiple unit | 1958-1961 | Unknown | Gospel Oak - Barking Line Marston Vale Line | |
| Class 115 | diesel multiple unit | 1960 | Unknown | Gospel Oak - Barking Line Marston Vale Line | |
| Class 117 | diesel multiple unit | 1960-1961 | 2000 | Gospel Oak - Barking Line Marston Vale Line | |
| Class 121 ''Bubble Car'' | diesel multiple unit | 1960 | 2001 | Gospel Oak - Barking Line Marston Vale Line | All units now in deparmental use |
Silverlink in the News
★ On Tuesday 24 January 2006, London Mayor Ken Livingstone called for all Silverlink stations to be staffed after the murder of City lawyer Thomas Rhys Pryce near Kensal Green station. [5]
★ On Friday 16 July 2004, Virgin Trains announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops at Milton Keynes Central, which were used by up to 6000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with the temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours.[6]
★ On Monday 7 June 2004, a Silverlink train carrying about 50 passengers derailed as it entered Northampton. No-one was injured.[7]
★ On Thursday 8 August 1996 a northbound train collided with a southbound empty stock train 700 m south of Watford Junction. One person was killed and 69 injured. For more on this incident see Watford rail crash.
Station and service improvements
As of 2006, Silverlink has invested in a partnership with HSBC who have funded £13 million in a mid-life mechanical and electrical overhaul of the Silverlink County fleet. Other train refurbishment programmes are continuing on the Silverlink Metro trains.
Silverlink is providing lifts, refurbished toilets and better customer service at Willesden Junction. A customer lounge and information point has opened at Northampton. A new station is being built at Stonebridge Park and improvement work is being carried out at other stations. Other improvements being carried out by Silverlink include the continuing installation of CCTV and ticket gates.
The future of Silverlink
It has been announced that the Silverlink franchise will finish in November 2007.[8] From that time, Silverlink's operations will be split between Transport for London and a new West Midlands franchise.
London Overground
Silverlink Metro services (the North London Line, the West London Line, the Watford DC Line and the Gospel Oak to Barking line) will come under the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground.
Four prospective operators were initially pre-selected for the London Overground concession:
★ Govia
★ MTR Laing (a joint venture between MTR Corporation and Laing Rail)
★ National Express Group
★ Nedrail
In December 2006, Govia and MTR Laing were selected to submit "best and final offers" for the concession. MTR Laing was selected on 19th June 2007.[9] and begin operations from 11 November 2007.
West Midlands Franchise
Silverlink County services will be merged with part of Central Trains to form a new West Midlands franchise. The Department for Transport announced on 19 September 2006 that three parties had pre-qualified for the new franchise.[8].
★ London & Birmingham Railway Limited (Govia)
★ MTR Corporation (UK) Limited (MTR Corporation of Hong Kong)
★ Serco NedRailways West Midlands Limited (a Joint Venture between Serco and NedRailways)
Subsequently, MTR withdrew. In June 2007, the Government announced that Govia had been awarded the franchise, to be operated under the name London Midland.[11]
Willesden depot
Alstom had proposed to withdraw from the Willesden train maintenance depot. Closure would have left the Class 313 trains homeless. On May 12 2007, Silverlink took over direct running of the depot and its staff for the final six months of its franchise. [12]. Alstom will continue to operate four depots on the West Coast Main Line, at Wembley, Oxley, Longsight, and Polmadie.
References
1. NX Awarded North London Railways Franchise
2. Silverlink franchise extended to November 2007
3. Stratford-North Woolwich service to be withdrawn
4. National Rail Trends 2006-2007 Q4
5. Night staff for unmanned stations
6. Commuters angry over train switch
7. Train with 50 passengers derails
8.
9. Milestone reached in transformation of London's overland rail network as operator is announced
10.
11. Department for Transport announces winner of new West Midlands franchise
12. Silverlink takes over Willesden TMD Silverlink, 11/05/07; Retrieved 14/05/07
External links
★ Silverlink Trains website
★ National Express Group website
★ Transport for London website
★ Department For Transport Railways page
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