Silverlink

Silverlink

Overview
Franchise(s):	North London Railways 2 March 1997 – 10 November 2007
Main region(s):	Greater London
Other region(s):	Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire
Fleet size:	67
Stations called at:	88
National Rail abbreviation:	SS
Parent company:	National Express Group
Route map Legend Bedford Bedford St Johns Kempston Hardwick Birmingham New Street Stewartby Birmingham International Millbrook Coventry Lidlington Rugby Ridgmont Long Buckby Aspley Guise Northampton Woburn Sands Wolverton Bow Brickhill Milton Keynes Central Fenny Stratford Bletchley Leighton Buzzard Cheddington St Albans Abbey Tring Park Street Berkhamsted How Wood Hemel Hempstead Bricket Wood Apsley Garston Kings Langley Watford North Watford Junction Watford High Street Bushey Carpenders Park Hatch End Headstone Lane Harrow & Wealdstone Kenton South Kenton North Wembley Wembley Central Stonebridge Park Harlesden Willesden Junction Kensington (Olympia) Kensal Green West Brompton Queen's Park Clapham Junction Kilburn High Road Acton Central South Hampstead South Acton London Euston Gunnersbury Kensal Rise Kew Gardens Brondesbury Park Richmond Brondesbury West Hampstead Finchley Road & Frognal Hampstead Heath Gospel Oak Kentish Town West Upper Holloway Camden Road Crouch Hill Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Harringay Green Lanes Highbury & Islington South Tottenham Canonbury Blackhorse Road Dalston Kingsland Walthamstow Queen's Road Hackney Central Leyton Midland Road Homerton Leytonstone High Road Hackney Wick Wanstead Park Stratford Woodgrange Park West Ham Barking Canning Town Custom House Silvertown North Woolwich Other National Rail Shared route with Bakerloo line Silverlink County Other Underground lines transferred to Central Trains 2004 DLR Silverlink Metro Birmingham Intl Airport service withdrawn 2006 Woolwich Ferry

Silverlink^[1] was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express Group that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by London Overground and Silverlink County services were taken over by London Midland.

History

The North London Railways franchise was awarded to National Express on 7 February 1997.^[2] National Express commenced operating the franchise on 3 March 1997.

After initially trading as North London Railways, in September 1997 the franchise was rebranded as Silverlink.^[3]

The franchise was due to finish on 15 October 2006, but on 11 August 2006 the Department for Transport granted an extension until 10 November 2007.^[4]

Branding

Silverlink had two sub-brands:

• Silverlink Metro for Stratford - Richmond, Willesden Junction - Clapham Junction, London Euston - Watford Junction via Willesden Junction, and Gospel Oak - Barking services.

• Silverlink County for London Euston - Birmingham New Street, Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey and Bletchley - Bedford services.

Silverlink Metro

Silverlink Metro operated these services.

Note: Changes during the franchise period are noted but changes to the lines before and after the franchise are not.

North London Line

† At the end of service on Saturday 9 December 2006 the line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed, as much of the route was duplicated by the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee line, leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line.^[5]

West London Line

Shepherd's Bush on the West London Line was due to open under the franchise (with signage in Silverlink colours installed), but platform widening work meant that it finally opened in September 2008 under London Overground management, the signage being replaced with the London Overground roundels by that time.

Watford DC Line

† = also served by the Bakerloo line.

Gospel Oak to Barking Line

Silverlink County

Northampton Line

Northampton Line services ran on the slow lines of the West Coast Main Line.

† Services north of Northampton were taken over by Central Trains from 2005. The route shared rolling stock and parent company with Silverlink, and some through services remained.

St Albans Abbey Line

Marston Vale Line

Performance

Silverlink was categorised as a London and South East operator by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and was 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.^[6] 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 the previous year, but remain above the sector level of 89.0%.

Silverlink Metro service levels

Despite published performance figures^[7] the Silverlink Metro franchise on the North London Line was regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor service,^[8] with extremely congested trains and an unreliable service^[9] with some trains cancelled shortly before they are due to arrive. A London Assembly report described the service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded". The recent transfer of the service to Transport for London (TfL) has the potential to improve the quality of the service ^[10] due to upgrade plans ^[11] which coincide with the extension of the East London line.

A report on the future of the line can be found on the London Assembly website.^[12]

Rolling stock

Silverlink inherited a fleet of Class 117, Class 121, Class 313 and Class 321s from British Rail.

To replace the Class 117 and 121s, seven Class 150s were transferred from Central Trains in summer 1999, with an eighth following in 2006.^[13] Pending their arrival Silverlink hired Class 31s from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 2 carriages on Bletchley - Bedford services in 1998/99.

In 2003 three Class 508s were transferred from Merseyrail for use on the Watford DC Line.

The Strategic Rail Authority decided to divert thirty four-carriage Siemens Desiro carriages from an order made by South West Trains to provide stock with faster acceleration for the West Coast Main Line operators. They were not allocated to a specific operator but a shared fleet used by both Silverlink and Central Trains, both being National Express train operating companies.

On 16 July 2004, Virgin Trains announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops at Milton Keynes Central, which were used by up to 6,000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, and a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with the temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours.^[14]

While awaiting these to arrive, from September 2004 Silverlink introduced two former Virgin Trains Mark 3 sets hauled by Virgin Trains Class 87s and EWS Class 90s on peak hour Northampton services as well as hiring five Class 321s from National Express sister fleet One.^[15]

Metro services were operated by Class 313s on the electrified routes, with the Class 508s used exclusively on the Euston - Watford Junction service from 2003.

County services to Northampton and Birmingham were operated by Class 321s joined in 2005 by Class 350s.

The St Albans Abbey line was operated for many years by Class 313s, but later were usually operated by Class 321s with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards.

The non-electrified Bletchley - Bedford and Gospel Oak - Barking services initially used Class 117 and Class 121s before Class 150s took over in 1999.

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Train Numbers	Routes operated	Built	Period used	Notes
			mph	km/h
Class 121 Bubble Car		DMU	70	112	4	55023/27/29/31	Gospel Oak - Barking Line Marston Vale Line	1960	1997-2001	Replaced by Class 150
Class 150 Sprinter			75	120	8	150120-150121, 150123, 150127-150131	Silverlink Metro: Gospel Oak - Barking Line Silverlink County: Marston Vale Line	1984–1987	1999–2007
Class 313		EMU	75	120	21	313101-117, 313119-313123, 313134	Silverlink Metro: North London Line West London Line Watford DC Line	1976-1977 1997 - 2001 (Refurbished)	1983–2007
Class 321			100	160	37	321401-321437	Silverlink County: Northampton Line St Albans Abbey Line	1989–1990	1989–2007
Class 350 Desiro			100	160	30	350101-350130	Silverlink County: Northampton Line	2004–2005	2004–2007	Built for Central Trains and Silverlink regional express services and Central Trains CityLink services on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line
Class 508			75	120	3	508301-508303	Silverlink Metro: Watford DC Line	1979 - 1980 2003 (Refurbished)	2003–2007

Class 313 at North Woolwich 2001, it closed in 2006.

Depots

Silverlink's fleet was maintained at Bletchley Depot. Following Virgin Trains ceasing to operate electric locomotives, Silverlink's Metro fleet moved to Willesden Depot.

In 2006 Alstom proposed closing Willesden. Closure would have left the Class 508s homeless and the Class 313s having to return to Bletchley Depot which was due to close. On 12 May 2007 Silverlink took over direct running of the depot and its staff for the final six months of its franchise.

Demise

As part of a wider redrawing of the rail franchise map by the Department of Transport, the Silverlink network was to be broken up when it was renewed in November 2007.

The Silverlink Metro services were moved to the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground. On 19 June 2007 Transport for London announced it had awarded the London Overground concession to a Laing Rail/MTR joint venture.^[16]

The Silverlink County services were merged with the Central Trains services around Birmingham to create a new West Midlands franchise. On 22 June 2007 the Department for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise to Govia.^[17]

Silverlink's services transferred to London Overground Rail Operations and London Midland on 11 November 2007.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silverlink.

• Official website
• National Express Group website