About Us

The Northern Rail franchise was taken over by Arriva as of 1st April 2016. It was formerly run by Abellio and Serco. From January 2020 it has been under Gpovernment control.

Amongst the original franchise commitments was the setting up of a Cycle Forum. Local cycling advocates were quick to notice this and assisted the new train operator in meeting its commitment. The forum has held two to three very well attended meetings each year since its inception and has been instrumental in changing the attitudes of both cyclists and the train operators towards the integration of cycling with heavy rail. With a membership of over 100 organisations the Forum includes local authority officers, cycling organisations, Passenger Focus, ATOC, management staff from Northern Rail, tourism officers and community rail partnerships. Meeting around three times a year the Forum is a vehicle for sharing good practice, exchanging views, engaging in dialogue with Northern Rail and widening horizons.

On the cyclist side, there is greater understanding of the challenges facing the operator, who has seen rapid growth in passenger numbers with minimal increases in rolling stock, while the train operator now has a greater understanding of the needs of cyclists. The cycle forum has acted as a steering group for a number of significant bike-rail initiatives in the North of England, including the Cycle Point in Leeds, a programme of improved cycle parking in the Leeds City area and beyond, an Eco-Station at Accrington, staff cycling schemes and the promotion of leisure cycling. Having spent a lot of time in Yorkshire, the focus moved the the North-West and the Northern Hub proposal for Manchester.

Since the franchise was introduced we have spent over a million pounds on improved cycle facilities encouraging people to ride to their local station as an alternative either to driving to the station or to completing their journey by car.

We introduced a flexible policy allowing bikes on trains over the two per train limit - most Northern trains are two or three-car. We introduced permit schemes that allow bunches of schoolkids to travel by train with their bikes in Cheshire , and are looking at doing the same for BMX riders. Cycle trainers in S. Yorks have been given free passes to enable them to widen the coverage of training provision.

Overall the usage of the Northern rail network has gone up massively since Abellio/Serco took over. Northern has been fortunate in obtaining additional trains so some of the capacity problems have abated. However, the growth in use of the Northern/TPEX network has been exponential and there can be difficulties when travelling with a cycle at peak times.

Since the Pandemic journey patterns have changed dramatically and we have been assessing this as well as the impact of the introduction of new rolling stock on both the Northern and Trans-Pennine franchises and the opportunities for further integration of cycling and rail travel that these might bring.

As with other train operators Northern prefer people to leave their bikes at the station rather than take them on the train, so our focus has been making that a viable option while retaining the option of taking your bike on the train for those for whom is the best option. (See "The bike-rail user market".)

The Cycle Forum’s activities has helped to develop a mutual understanding of each other’s needs so we can work together to provide a sustainable and healthy alternative to the private car.

Trans-Pennine Express joined the Forum in 2017 which enables us to take a more integrated approach to bike-rail across the North. We are looking forward to the introduction of new rolling stock with more room for passengers and their bikes and other luggage.

The CYCLE FORUM assisted in the creation of Northern Rail's innovative Cycling Strategy which was introduced in 2006/7 by Dr Paul Salveson, MBE, Northern Rail's then Head of Government and Community Strategies. The chair was then held by Ian Hall, Northern's Head of Marketing. Currently the Chair is held by Simon Geller, with Les Webb as secretary working closely with staff from Northern and Trans-Pennine Express. The Strategy has now become Northern's Cycling Promise while Trans-Pennine Express has it's own Cycle Policy